The Curse
by Deplora
Summary: FINISHED Squffie. A romance develops between Squall and Yuffie, but there's something they must find out before it's too late.
1. Chapter One: Demons on Ice

_Author's Note:_ I know I said it would be awhile before I wrote another story, but I couldn't help myself. (smiles) This one probably won't be updated as often as my previous story, but I will persevereand find the time to write this. This story is also going to be kind of strange after it gets started. Couples included: Leon (Squall)/Yuffie, Cloud/Aerith, and _maybe_ Sora/Kairi.

  


Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters. They are owned by Disney and Square.

  
  


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_The Curse_

  
  
  


_Chapter One: Demons on Ice_

  


"I can't believe we've actually come back to Traverse Town," Yuffie said enthusiastically as she jumped out of the Gummi ship and walked through the entrance to the First District. "I mean, I thought when Sora sealed Kingdom Hearts two years ago, the walls separating the worlds would be restored."

  


"That's why we're here, Yuffie. To find out what happened, remember?" Leon told her for the hundredth time, annoyance creeping across his normally stoic face as he rolled his blue eyes at the eighteen year-old's excitement. Turning to Aerith, he asked, "When's Sora supposed to arrive?" 

  


The Flower Girl thought for a minute, "Tomorrow, I think."

  


"So, what's Traverse Town like?" Cloud asked, running his hand through his spiky blond hair. "I mean, is there anything around here to do?"

  


"Oh, that's right. You haven't been here before have you, Cloud?" Yuffie asked, knowing the obvious answer.

  


"No, Yuffie. Of course, he's been here before. Why would you think he hasn't been here before? Maybe because he was lost?" Leon declared sarcastically. "Idiot," he hissed under his breath. 

  


"I was just being polite. You don't have to jump all over me, Squall." Yuffie placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

  


"It's Leon," he growled menacingly, stepping up to her with his fists clenched at his sides.

  


"Just because you think you're all that--" the ninja yelled before she was interrupted by Aerith, who had stepped between them to stop the argument from becoming physical like so many before had become.

  


"Now, _children_," she began, emphasizing the word 'children' and sounding like a mother scolding her children. "We just got here and all you two can do is fight." She gestured towards all the shops and people surrounding them, saying, "Can't you just enjoy all the hustle and bustle of Traverse Town. It's been so long since we've done any real socializing, what with being at Hollow Bastion by ourselves for the past two years." She looked at Yuffie and Leon, noticing the tension between them. "We're not going anywhere until you apologize to each other." She backed out from between them, staring at them with her eyebrows raised expectantly.

  


Yuffie narrowed her dark blue eyes at the twenty-seven year-old man in front of her, "Only if Squall goes first."

  


"It's Leon, damn it! And I refuse to apologize. This is so stupid! I'm leaving!" He turned his back on the group and walked toward the Third District, his many belts slapping against his leather pants with each step.

  


"Fine! I didn't want you with us anyways!" Yuffie screamed back him. He flipped her off, the only acknowledgment she received that he heard her. "Did you see what he just did? He flipped me off!" she said accusingly as she turned to face Cloud and Aerith.

  


"Well, Yuffie, I think you deserved it." Ignoring the shocked look he received from both girls, the Cloud continued, "You were acting childish."

  


"I don't need this," the ninja muttered, putting her hands up in front of her defensively as she left them standing in front of the entrance and started towards the Second District.

"Well, I guess it's up to me to give you the grand tour," Aerith sighed resignedly, looking up at Cloud's azure eyes. She suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him excitedly, "Come on, let's go to the Item Shop. You've got to meet the shopkeepers there. They are the cutest little ducklings. Their names are..."

  


Cloud stopped listening and followed her, knowing she could and probably would continue to ramble about how adorable they were for the rest of the night. 

  


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Leon walked around the Third District, looking for something to do, anything to do. The last time he had been here, the place had been overrun with Heartless. He could always expect a fight in the wide expanse in the center of this district. But now, the place was filled with people milling around, chatting when they recognized someone. 

  


"People!" he sighed disgustedly, trying to think of someplace quiet to sit and think. He was always like this after a fight with Yuffie. Yes, she was annoying. And, yes, he started a lot of the arguments they had. But that didn't change the fact that he was in love with her. He came to this realization just a few years ago, when Sora had been flying around everywhere sealing the keyholes. For the first time, Leon had actually seen Yuffie as a woman and not a child when she fought alongside him in one of the tournaments at the Coliseum. But, because of the age difference, he tried to block these emotions out.

  


Sighing, pushed these thoughts out of his head as he cut through the crowd and headed towards the door to the Second District, planning on cutting through to the alley. Once in the alley, he could hide in the Waterway. He could always plan on being left alone there. 

  


He ignored the townspeople's protests and glares as he pushed past them, knowing they wouldn't dare to stop him. And if they did, well, he had the Gunblade to scare them off. Not that he would actually hurt them, but frighten them, yes. He slung the weapon across his shoulder, relishing the fact that a path was immediately cleared for him. Strutting to the large doors, he turned to look back at the crowd. He gave them his trademark "go to hell" look, then pushed the doors open and walked through. He didn't hear the murmuring of the crowd as he left. 

  


"Who's was that?" someone asked quietly. 

  


"I don't know," another faceless voice said.

  


"Wasn't he here a few years ago?" a slightly louder question this time.

  


"Yeah, he helped fight the Heartless."

  


"What's wrong with him? He seems so...I don't know...arrogant."

  


"He was always like that, save 'em and ignore 'em."

  


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Yuffie sat on top of the Gizmo Shop, her slim legs hanging over the edge. She loved to just sit up here and watch the people underneath her scurrying about with their little lives, oblivious to the fact that they were being watched. One person in particular had caught her attention. She watched him cross from the Third District entrance to the Alley, her eyes boring holes in his black leather jacket, the red wings on the back barely visible from this position.

  


"Where is Squall going?" she whispered softly, already forgetting her fight with him earlier. She pulled her legs back up onto the building and stood up. She climbed down the ladder and jumped into the crowd. She wove her way through the people and headed for the Alley, hoping he wouldn't get too far ahead of her. Finally reaching it, she walked through and looked to the right and left for him. Not seeing any sign of him, she decided he must have gone to the Waterway.

  


She silently debated whether or not to disturb him in there. She knew he liked to go there to be alone. _Okay, Yuf, you can be nice and give him his privacy. Or, _she smiled wickedly, _you can sneak up on him._ She walked quickly to the bars and climbed into the icy water, trying not to make any noise. Allowing herself to be fully immersed in the water, she swam as quietly as she could into the cavern. 

  


She continued to glide through the water until she reached a large protruding rock, which she hid behind, peaking around to watch Squall. He was sitting on the ground, back leaning against the wall. He seemed to be completely relaxed. _He's asleep, _Yuffie thought. _Oh, this is going to be so good_. 

  


An evil smile played across her lips as she silently pulled herself out of the water. She stealthily walked over him, praying he wouldn't hear the water dripping onto the rocky ground. When she reached him, she lowered herself so her mouth was only inches away from his ear. As she was about to yell, she felt fingers grasp her leg, pulling her down. She squealed as she fell, bruising her butt.

  


"How did you know, Squall?" she asked, rubbing her hip.

  


"It's Leon. For a ninja, you're kinda loud," he said, head leaning against the wall and his eyes still closed.

  


"I'm not loud!" Yuffie protested indignantly.

  


He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Maybe if you hadn't yelped when you realized how cold the water was, you could have pulled it off." Ignoring the blush spreading across her cheeks, he continued, "What did you want anyways?"

  


"Hmm? Oh, nothing. I was just going to try and scare you," she admitted, looking disappointed. "But I guess that didn't happen."

  


"Yuffie, the day you scare me is the day that I'll see demons on ice," he told her shaking his head. He noticed the confused look on her face. "You know, when hell freezes over? Demons on ice?" She still appeared to be perplexed. "Never mind, Yuffie, never mind." With that, he pulled himself up off the ground and reached down to help Yuffie to her feet. "Come on, it's getting late. We better go check in at the hotel."

  


Yuffie nodded, surprised that he had helped her up as he had never done that before. _Are you sure hell hasn't already frozen over, Squall? _she silently thought as they walked out of the Waterway.

  


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"No, Aerith. You can't do this to me!" Yuffie protested, eyeing the pink clad lady like she was insane. 

  


"Please, Yuffie. It won't be so bad. I promise." Aerith begged with the ninja, large green eyes filling with tears. "Do it for me, please."

  


Yuffie tried not to look at the tears. No one could refuse the Flower Girl when she did that, not even Squall. "Okay, Aerith. You win. But if Squall starts to snore, I'm coming in here and throwing Blondie out on his butt." She gathered her things and headed for the Green Room. She stopped at the door and turned back, "You owe me big time, Aerith."

  


As soon as she opened the door, she immediately regretted it. Cloud and Squall stood there arguing about something. The blond seemed to be pleading with the other man about something.

  


"For the last time Strife, no."

  


"Hey guys." The two men looked down at her carrying her bag. She noticed the surprise spread across Squall's face. "Aerith's making me room with you, Squall."

  


"It's Leon."

  


Cloud smirked at the Gunblade wielder, who was leaning against the wall. "Well, I guess that settles it Leonheart." He walked to the Red Room, laughing silently.

  


"So, um...which side of the bed do you want, Squall?" Yuffie asked sweetly, trying not to annoy him any further.

  


"It's Leon, and we are not sharing the bed," he said angrily.

  


"Well, where am I supposed to sleep then?" 

  


"I don't care," he yelled. "But we are not sharing the bed." _Because I'm not sure if I can control myself, _he silently added. Leon left his post at the wall and began to unpack his clothes, putting them in the dresser.

  


"Fine," Yuffie resigned. "I'll go ask the manager for a cot." She left the room, slamming the door. _I just don't get him. One minute he's helping me up and the next he's yelling at me._

  


She returned a few minutes later with the uncomfortable looking cot. Not seeing Squall in the room, she wondered where he could possibly have gone off to. That's when she heard the shower begin to run in the bathroom. Sighing she took the cot across the room and opened it. Curling her lip in disgust at the stained thing, she went to retrieve some extra blankets from the closet. She made her bed, adding the extra blankets for padding, then sat on it to see how uncomfortable it was. _Well, it's better than the floor._

  


She heard the shower shut off, and then heard Squall cursing in the bathroom. Seconds later he walked out with nothing but a towel on, muttering, "I forgot my clothes." She tried to control her blush as she stared at her partner's back, who was fumbling around the dresser looking for clothes. _Damn, he's hot, why haven't I noticed that before, _she thought as she tried unsuccessfully to pull her eyes away from his toned body. He found what he was looking for and stalked back to the bathroom to dress. Yuffie still had the glazed look on her face when he came back out, dressed in shorts and T-shirt this time.

  


Squall lay on the bed and watched her slowly get up to prepare for bed. A small smile graced his lips as he thought, _she was staring at me._

  


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Yuffie rolled over on the cot once again, sleep weighing her down. She looked at the clock. _Two o'clock, and I still haven't gotten any sleep. Damn this cot._ Glancing over at Squall, who was sleeping peacefully, an idea popped into her mind.

  


She got off the cot and crept to the opposite side of the bed from Squall, careful not to make any noise. She painstakingly pulled the covers down so he wouldn't awaken, then slowly lowered herself into the bed, relishing the warmth radiating from his body and the softness of the mattress. She fell into a deep slumber, knowing she would regret her actions in the morning when Squall awoke.

  


On the other side of the bed, Squall kept his breathing slow and steady, hoping Yuffie wouldn't notice he was awake.

  


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Author's Note: I don't know when I will update again. It will probably be within the week, maybe sooner. I do have a paper due this week, so I need to devote some of my time to that. Anyways, I hope you have enjoyed what you have read so far.


	2. Chapter Two: Secrets

Author's Note: Okay, here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it. To Yuffie-Penn: Don't be jealous of me. The only reason I'm getting my stories up so fast is because I'm a college student living with my parents and I don't have a job. Yes, I know, I have a pathetic life. 

  


Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Disney and Squaresoft own it and all the characters. However, I'm willing to pay a lot of money to own Leon.

  


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_Chapter Two: Secrets_

  


Yuffie awoke to the sunlight streaming through the window and found her back pressed against something warm and firm with an arm wrapped protectively around her waist. Unable to move from the shock, she began thinking frantically about what had happened. _Okay, I remember climbing in the bed last night, but I don't remember this._ She began to slide out from under his arm, but stopped, deciding to take advantage of these circumstances. Snuggling back up against him, she sighed contentedly and went back to sleep as his arm tightened around her.

  


Leon had watched her with heavily-lidded eyes as her mind struggled to make sense of the situation, not wanting her to know he was awake. He allowed her to decide what would come of this, all the while hoping she would stay in his arms like this forever. Hearing that small sigh escape her lips sent shivers of excitement coursing through his body. _She wants to be here, _his inner voice sang happily. He resisted the urge to cover the back of her neck with small kisses and continued to gaze upon her. As the sleep reclaimed them both, Leon had a soft smile upon his face to match the one on hers.

An hour later they were both rudely awakened from their peaceful slumber by a loud banging on the door. Yuffie struggled to sit up, only to find Leon's arm still encircling her. She looked at him, immediately noticing his sheepish grin. Blushing furiously, she tried to get out of bed only to be pulled back down. The beating on the door was soon accompanied by Cloud's harsh voice, "Leon, Yuffie, are you alive in there? We're going to be late. Sora will be here any minute now."

  


Scrutinizing Leon's face, she once again attempted to pull free of his grasp, finding he wasn't willing to let her go just yet. "Squall?" she asked expectantly, staring into his azure eyes as he sat up slightly.

  


He slowly lowered his head and gently kissed her on the forehead, whispering, "Don't tell anyone yet. Not even Aerith."

  


She nodded her head vigorously, unable to speak because of her utter shock. As he got out of the bed and walked to the bathroom, Yuffie sat up and regained her voice. "You didn't correct me." He furrowed his brows at her in confusion. "I called you Squall, and you didn't correct me," she elaborated.

  


He smirked. "Only between us for now, remember? In public, we act like we always do. Okay?"

  


"Okay." As soon as he shut the bathroom door, Yuffie fell back on the mattress, pinching herself furiously, hoping it wasn't a dream. _It's going to be a great day, _she thought as she sighed happily.

  


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Yuffie skipped to the café where they were to meet Sora while Cloud, Aerith, and Leon trailed behind. "Yuffie, are you okay?" Aerith asked worriedly. 

  


"I'm fine," the ninja happily replied, looking back at the Flower Girl and giving her a big smile. "What makes you think something is wrong?"

  


"You appear unusually upbeat today," Cloud explained. He turned to Leon, "And you, you seem to be happier than you have been in awhile." The blonde looked back and forth between Leon and Yuffie, confusion crossing his face as he saw them exchanging secret glances at each other. He grabbed Aerith's arm, pulling her back toward the hotel. "Come on, Aerith. We forgot something. You two go ahead, we'll be with you in a few minutes."

  


Once in the hotel, Aerith gazed up into Cloud's blue eyes. "What was that all about? We didn't forget anything."

  


"Aerith, everyone knows you're good at reading people." She looked up at him, asking him to continue with her soft green eyes. "So, tell me, what's going on with Leon and Yuffie?"

  


"Oh, that. You noticed, too?" She laughed softly, her hand covering her mouth. "I don't know if I should tell you. It looks like they want to keep it a secret."

  


"Keep what a secret?" Cloud ran his hand through his spiky hair, still confused.

  


"Well, you do know that Yuffie has been in love with Leon since forever, right?"

  


"Um...I do now."

  


She sighed in exasperation. "Apparently you and Leon are the only ones who haven't known. Well, actually, I think he knows now."

  


"What are you trying to tell me? That 'Mr. I Can't Have Any Emotions' actually _likes_ our little hyperactive ninja?" He rubbed his hand over his face, trying to make sense out of what she was saying.

  


"I think it's more than _likes,_ Cloud. I think he may actually _love_ her," she explained.

  


"This I gotta see," he said, shaking his head. "I need to talk to Leon about this."

  


"Cloud, don't you dare mention this to Leon. You let them work it out on their own. They'll let us know when they're ready," Aerith cried, shaking her finger in his face as if she was scolding a naughty puppy.

  


Sighing resignedly, Cloud muttered, "Okay, okay. I'll leave them alone." He grasped Aerith's hand and pulled her back out into the Second District. "Come on, we're going to be late."

  


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"They know something's up," Yuffie declared as she stopped skipping when Cloud and Aerith had left them. Making sure they weren't being watched, Leon walked up to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. He nuzzled the soft black hair before kissing her head. Yuffie looked up at him and asked, "Why are we putting on an act, anyways?"

  


"Do you have any idea how Aerith would react if she knew?" Leon retorted. Yuffie nodded, immediately picturing the Flower Girl jumping up and down, clapping her hands in excitement. "We need to break the news slowly to her to keep her from killing herself with excitement."

  


"Okay, you win, _Squall." _She smiled as emphasized his name, loving the fact that he didn't correct her. "But only for Aerith's safety. If it wasn't for her, I'd be telling all of Traverse Town." She leaned her head against his shoulder as they continued into the First District. She halted their steps and pulled her head back and raised her eyes questioningly. "I need to ask you something, Squall."

  


"What?"

  


"When did you start...um,...having feelings for me?" she stammered out, lowering her gaze to the ground.

  


He lifted her chin and smiled. "About two years ago, when I realized you weren't a little girl anymore."

  


"Oh, but, why did you treat me so horribly?" Her eyes filled with tears at the memories of all the terrible fights there had been between them.

  


"I'm sorry, Yuf. I–, I didn't know how you felt about me. I was afraid you hated me."

  


"I could never hate you, Squall. _Never_." She leaned back against him as they set out to meet Sora.

  


Once they reached the café, Yuffie disengaged herself from Leon and scanned the crowd for the spiky haired brunette. Not seeing him, she pulled Leon to an empty booth near the entrance to watch for the young Keyblade Master. Not long after they had been seated, Aerith and Cloud walked through the door and joined them. Yuffie noticed they seemed to be eyeing her and Leon rather suspiciously. "What are you staring at?" she them nervously.

  


"Nothing," Aerith squeaked guiltily, averting her green eyes from the accusatory blues eyes of Leon. She began to play with the end of her braid, rubbing the strands of hair between her thumb and forefinger. "I was just zoning out, not really paying attention to what I was looking at," she explained.

  


"What about you, Blondie? Were you just zoning out, too?" Leon said with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

  


"No, I was staring at you and Yuffie," Cloud stated bluntly. "What's going on between you two?"

  


Yuffie's dark blue eyes grew wide. "Um...nothing is going on...what makes you think that something's up?" she managed to stammer out, noticing that Leon refused to look at her.

  


Cloud opened his mouth to speak when they were interrupted. "Hey guys. How have ya been?" Sora walked up to the table quickly, his arm around the waist of a girl with shoulder length auburn hair. "Yuffie, Aerith, Leon, you remember Kairi, don't ya?" He looked at Cloud in shock, glancing between him and Aerith. "Is she your light?" he whispered. Cloud nodded slowly. "Well, I'm glad you found her. By the way, Kairi, this is Cloud. Cloud, Kairi."

  


"So, you managed to get back to Destiny Islands I assume," Leon said, making the question more of a statement. "Where's Donald and Goofy?"

  


"We finally found King Mickey and they decided to stay with him. But that's okay, because I'm not traveling alone. Kairi's been coming along with me," Sora declared proudly, looking at Kairi and gently kissing her cheek, ignoring the blush spreading across her cheeks.

  


Taking charge of the small meeting, Leon began, "Well, let's get down to business." Leon noticed the lack of space in the booth. "Sora, you may want to grab a couple of chairs for you and Kairi." He waited until they had both sat down to start the meeting. "Okay people, for some reason the walls between the worlds are still down. Does anyone have any idea why?"

  


"Leon, do we really need to worry about it? I mean, there haven't been any attacks by the Heartless. Maybe we should just be glad that we still have the ability for interplanetary travel." Aerith sighed as she said this, knowing it was useless to try to argue with Leon.

  


"We have to be sure that the Heartless have been defeated. What if someone else has opened Kingdom Hearts?" Leon looked at Aerith, exasperation showing clearly in his eyes.

  


Sora elbowed Kairi in the ribs. "What?" she hissed.

  


"Tell them," he whispered.

  


"Tell us what?" Yuffie asked curiously.

  


"Well," Kairi paused, looking down at the floor. "Sora, they're just going to think I'm crazy." She looked at Sora pleadingly. "Okay, I'll tell you what I know. I've been having dreams lately." Everyone but the Keyblade Master narrowed their eyes at her in concentration.

  


"What kind of dreams?" Cloud asked softly.

Kairi eyes glazed over as she remembered. "It's always the same. I'm walking through a forest when I see a large castle looming over the land."

  


"Hollow Bastion?" Aerith had a questioning look in her eyes.

  


"No, it's more ancient than Hollow Bastion," Kairi shakes her head as she says this. "I come out of the forest and see a figure standing in the tallest tower of the castle. It appears to be a woman in a long dress, blowing in the wind. Her hands are up as though she's conjuring something. Then the land becomes dark, shadows apppear everywhere." She stops, lowering her head as tears fall from her eyes. Sora squeezes her hand, giving her the strength to continue. "I'm standing there, in the dark, when I see the yellow eyes. I can feel their claws ripping at me, tearing my clothes. I try to fight them off, but there are too many. I start to scream, but I'm silenced when I hear _her_ laughing. The woman in the tower, she's a witch. She's trying to take over the worlds." By now, Kairi is crying freely, holding onto to Sora's hand. She turns to hide her face in his chest as he rubs her back, trying to calm her.

  


Leon looked unconvinced. "But what do these dreams have to do with us?"

Kairi sat up, composing herself. "Ever since I've discovered I'm a Princess of Heart, I've become in tune with these things." She sighed, "It's not like I want this, ya know. I'd give anything just to be a normal girl again, but I can't." She looked at them all, seriousness in her eyes. "I've become a mystic. That's what the Princesses of Heart are, they are all mystics. Our powers were awakened when Ansem gathered us together."

  


Leon looked at her strangely, then stood up to leave. "I'm sorry, but I've got to think about this for awhile." He walked out the door and headed for the Third District.

  


"I believe you," Yuffie said it so softly, she was afraid they hadn't heard her. "I believe you," she repeated louder this time. She got up to follow Leon. "Just give Squall some time. I'll try to talk to him."

  


Aerith watched her follow Leon into the Third District. Momentarily forgetting Kairi's dream, she sighed, "They are so cute together."

  


"Wait a minute! Are Leon and Yuffie an item?" Kairi yelled, practically knocking down the chair as she stood up.

  


"Well, we think they are now. Why?" Aerith could not hide the confusion in her eyes.

  


"I have to stop them." Kairi ran out the door, trying to catch up with the two.

  


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In the Third District, Yuffie had caught up with Leon, who was heading for Merlin's house. "Hey Squall, you know, she might be right." Leon stopped and waited for her.

  


"I know, that's why I'm going to see Merlin. He might know what she's talking about." Leon looked at Yuffie with his blue eyes. "You are so beautiful," he whispered huskily. He pushed her against the wall as she gasped when she felt his body melded against hers. He lowered his head to kiss her as she slightly parted her lips. He was mere millimeters from her lips when they were interrupted.

  


"Stop! No! Don't kiss her! You'll kill her!"

  


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Author's Note: Okay, I have to admit that I'm partial to cliffhangers. Sorry. I'll try to have the next chapter up by Friday. I hope you like the story so far. I have the plot all planned out, but I'm having trouble getting it down on paper. Read and Review. You have no idea how happy I get from reading the reviews.


	3. Chapter Three: Explanations

Author's Note: Okay, I got this up sooner than I expected. Mainly for two reasons: one, there was nothing on TV to watch so I ended up back at my computer; two, because of the angry mob of reviewers who hate cliffhangers. :-) So, I give this to you. I will warn you. This chapter is very weird and I had a hard time writing it. It's not my best work, but hang in there because after this chapter it will get better.

  


Disclaimer: Disney and Squaresoft own Kingdom Hearts. I never will own it, not even Squall. Sighs, but a girl could dream couldn't she?__

  


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_Chapter Three: Explanations_

  


Leon turned his head slowly to look at Kairi, who was clutching her side and panting. "What are you talking about?" he growled, glaring at her. He backed away from Yuffie, who had turned an interesting shade of red. Kairi was still trying to catch her breath, holding her hand up to signal that she needed a minute. "You better have a good reason for this, or I'm gonna--" he broke off as Yuffie grabbed his arm.

  


By now, Sora, Cloud, and Aerith had shown up. They left the café not long after Kairi, worried something was wrong. "Um...what's going on?" Aerith asked, immediately noting Leon's anger and Yuffie's crimson cheeks.

  


"I don't know." Leon threw up his arms in disgust. "Ask the 'mystic.' She apparently knows something."

  


"I didn't get a chance to finish telling you about my dream," Kairi gasped, still out of breath. She had never been much of a runner.

  


"What does your dream have to do with us kissing. I mean, that's our business and--" Yuffie stopped when she realized what she had said. Her face became even redder, if that was possible.

"See, I told you Cloud." Aerith looked as excited as if she was the one about to be kissed, jumping up and down, clapping her hands together.

  


"What were you saying about the dream?" Leon asked the mystic, ignoring Aerith's excitement and Cloud's smirks.

  


Kairi glanced at Sora for support. "After I hear the witch laughing, I see two young lovers. One's a knight and the other is a servant girl. The knight lunges toward the witch, stabbing her in the chest, believing it will kill her. The witch steps back and cackles. Then she places a curse upon them."

  


"And that effects Yuffie and I how?" Leon seemed like he was ready to slap Kairi. "You told me not to kiss her because it will kill her. Did you stop us because of a stupid dream?" He turned around and grabbed Yuffie by the arm, pulling her away. "Come on, Yuf. Let's go someplace quiet."

  


"Wait, Squall," the ninja said pleadingly. "Kairi, what does the curse have to do with us?"

  


"Don't you see? You were the servant girl, and Leon was the knight." Kairi gulped, thinking Leon was about to lose his already short temper. "In a past life, you angered the witch. And now...if you kiss...the curse will begin again," she managed to stammer out beneath Leon's glare.

  


"What do you mean 'in a past life?' I don't remember another life." Yuffie looked around the group in confusion. "Does anyone know what she's talking about? Cause I sure could use some explaining."

  


Aerith stepped forward. "She's talking about reincarnation, Yuffie. I read about it while we were at Hollow Bastion. You know how expansive the library is there." Aerith sighed, and continued, "Apparently, the soul lives on after death, beginning a new life each time until it completes the mission it was put here for. Once the mission is completed, it is allowed to go to the afterlife."

  


"Mission? What type of mission?" Leon said, appearing to be interested in the conversation.

  


Kairi answered this one. "It can be anything from saving a life to living a complete life." She took a deep breath to help build up her confidence for her next statement. "It appears that you and Yuffie have been unable to complete your mission because of this curse upon you."

  


"So, are you telling us that if Leon kisses Yuffie, she's going to die?" Cloud asked, running his hand through his hair. Kairi nodded. "So, is it only if they kiss? I mean, can they--"

  


Seeing where he was going, Aerith stopped him, slapping his arm. "Cloud! Get your mind out of the gutter!" she yelled, ignoring his pained expression.

  


"He does have a point though," Yuffie sighed sadly. "Tell me, Kairi, what else do you know about this curse?"

  


"I don't remember the rest of the dream. Sora always wakes me up before I finish it." She blushed realizing the implications she was making about her and Sora.

  


Sora opened his mouth, about to speak, then stopped, shaking his head. "What?" Leon yelled at him. "Sora, if you know something you better tell me."

  


"Well, I was just thinking that maybe Merlin or the Fairy Godmother might know something." The Keyblade Master pointed towards the door to Merlin's house. "We should ask them what to do."

  


Everyone nodded and they started towards the door, pairing off into couples as they walked. Yuffie had her head leaning against Leon's shoulder, Sora and Kairi were holding hands, and Cloud had his arm around the Flower Girl's waist.

  


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They reached Merlin's house miraculously without anyone falling off the moving stones and into the water. Walking into the house, Sora saw that it was much the same as it was when he was here two years ago. The book to the Hundred Acre Wood was still lying on the table, the Fairy Godmother was still in the little pumpkin carriage she stayed in, and Merlin was sitting at the table talking to an owl.

  


"Archimedes," the old wizard said, "I told you we were going to have guests. Now, pay up." The owl reached under his wing and brought out some munny, handing it over to Merlin disdainfully. Merlin turned to Sora, "Welcome back, Sora. Would you like to practice magic again?"

  


"No, we came about something else." Sora looked at Kairi, who was standing off the side, trying to be invisible.

  


"Ah, the Princess of Heart! And how are you, Princess Kairi?" the wizard exclaimed, extending his hand in greeting.

  


Kairi walked over and took his hand, saying softly, "Please, it's just Kairi. And, how did you know I was a Princess of Heart?"

  


"Easy, my dear. I could feel the power radiating from you." Noticing Kairi looked confused, he continued, "You do know about your power, don't you?"

  


"I know that I've become a mystic. I have dreams that I just know mean something," Kairi explained.

  


"Right you are, child. Your powers come in the form of dreams." Turning back to the group, he asked, "Now what brings all of you people here?"

  


Aerith stepped forward. "We have a question about one of Kairi's dreams." Nudging Kairi, she whispers, "Go on, tell him."

  


"I have a dream about a witch. She places a curse upon two lovers--" Kairi was interrupted by Yuffie.

  


"Merlin, sir, if you don't mind, I think I can speed this up a little." Yuffie looked at the wizard expectantly. Merlin gave her the go ahead. "See, Kairi says the two lovers are Squall and I. And, if we kiss, I will die. But we need to know if she's right or not." Yuffie was blushing by the time she finished.

  


"Oh, I see. Well, I don't know how much I can help." He looked around helplessly, suddenly noticing the pumpkin carriage by the door. "But, I do believe that the Fairy Godmother may be able to find something out." Merlin walked over to it and tapped it lightly.

  


"Bibbity, Boppity, Boo!" the Fairy Godmother exclaimed as she appeared in front of them. "What can I do for you?"

  


"Ah, FG, we could use your help with a mystic's dream," he looked at the group and whispered, "I call her FG." 

  


"Oh, dear. Where is she?" She saw Kairi, "Come child, you're a Princess of Heart, correct?" Kairi nodded. "Well, tell me about the dream." Kairi told her everything she could remember about the dream, FG nodding occasionally. When Kairi finished, everyone looked at FG hopefully. "Well, I don't know if I can–, wait a minute! Do you mind if I hypnotize you Kairi? Maybe then we can find out the rest of the dream."

  


"Um, it's not going to hurt is it?" Kairi asked shakily, Sora coming to her side to offer support. FG shook her head no. "Okay, let's do it." The Fairy Godmother touched Kairi's head with her wand, which immediately put her into a trance.

  


"Now, Kairi, Princess of Heart, mystic to all, tell me about the curse placed upon Leon and Yuffie," FG commanded.

  


"They were in love despite the difference in social class and the anger of a young noble woman in love with the knight," Kairi said in an emotionless, hollow voice. "The noble woman became enraged and turned to her dark powers to curse them for eternity."

  


"Kairi, what was the curse? Can you remember the words?" the Fairy Godmother asked gently.

  


"Yes." Kairi's voice turned cold, as though it were no longer her speaking but something evil.

  


"Love may set some free,

But it will imprison thee.

Though they be bonds that tie

They will cause one to die.

If ever your lips should meet,

It is death she will greet.

This curse I place upon the two

Because in life, I could not part you."

  


Kairi came out of her trance, looking around in silence. "Well, did it work?" Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Oh, dear," the Fairy Godmother exclaimed. "This is worse than I thought."

  


"What do you mean?" Yuffie yelled. "Is it true? Will I die if Squall kisses me?" 

  


"I'm sorry, child, but yes, you will die. It appears you and this young man are soul mates, but in one of your many lives, you became cursed. And now, your souls cannot fulfill their purpose here and you two keep coming back, only to have you die," FG explained sympathetically.

  


Yuffie clutched Leon, sobbing into his shirt. "Is there anything you can do?" Leon asked the Fairy Godmother quietly, yet desperately.

  


She sadly shook her head. "No. If I only knew where this curse was placed upon you, I might be able to help." She looked at Yuffie and Leon, asking, "Have you ever had any dreams where you were someone else? A dream that feels like a memory?"

  


They looked at each other before answering in unison, "No." Leon caressed Yuffie's hair as she continued to cry. "Well, can you tell us what we need to know about the curse to keep Yuffie alive?"

  


"Yes, that I can do. According to the curse Kairi recited, the curse will begin when your lips meet." She glanced at the two star-crossed lovers, "that hasn't happened yet, has it?" They shook their heads no. 

  


Yuffie stopped crying long enough to ask another question. "Is it only if our lips meet?" she asked quietly.

  


"Well, that and if you ever...um...how can I put this...consummate your love," FG replied as she struggled for words. She ignored the blushing of both Leon and Yuffie. "Now, if I could just figure out where this curse was place upon you, I might be able to find out who did it, and then how to solve it."

  


"Kairi, do you remember what the world looked like in your dream?" Sora, who had been fairly quiet up until now, asked. She nodded. He looked around at the group, "Well, let's go to Hollow Bastion and check out the library there. It's huge. Surely there will be something there that could help us find the world."

  


"Sora, that's a good idea," FG exclaimed.

  


"Besides, we need to find this world to stop the Heartless from spreading from there. So, this will be like killing two birds with one stone," Sora continued. "Or have you guys already forgotten about the witch controlling the Heartless as well?" Everyone looked at the floor. "Well, I guess I'm the only one planning on stopping them then," he laughed.

  


They left the wizard's house and headed towards the hotel to pack. Once Leon and Yuffie were in their room, Yuffie sighed and threw herself across the bed in disgust. Looking up at Leon, she exclaimed, "Ya know, we don't have it too easy do we? I mean, until this morning, we both thought that the other hated us. And now, that we find out we are actually attracted to each other, we can't even kiss. Urgh!" She threw a pillow across the room in frustration.

  


Leon picked up the pillow and walked over to the bed to lay down beside Yuffie. "We can kiss. Just not on the lips," he whispered as he nibbled her ear lobe. She sighed in pleasure as he lowered his lips to her neck, placing small kisses down it. Unable to think coherently, Yuffie was only able to gasp out, "Don't stop, Squall," to which he replied, "I wasn't planning on it."

  


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Author's Note: I know, this chapter is weird. It will get better, I promise. I don't know when the next update will be, probably by Friday because I have Thursday off. And, for those of you who hate cliffhangers, I didn't put one in. Just for you. I could have though. I could have had them on their deathbed when someone appears that might be able to save them. Not that that will happen in this story, but I could've done that. Then again, I would've been chased down by an angry mob of reviewers and lynched. Wow, this is a long Author's Note. Anyways, reviews make me happy. They also encourage me, like they did tonight.

  
  



	4. Chapter Four: Dreams or Memories?

Author's Note: Okay, people. Here is Chapter Four. I have spent all day on this chapter, plus I thought about it all day yesterday. So, I hope it is fairly good. Oh, and I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed. The reviews always make me so happy. Anyways, enjoy!

  


Disclaimer: No, I do not own Kingdom Hearts or its characters. Squaresoft and Disney own them. However, I do own Katherine, Sir Richard, and the Lady Elaine. 

  


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_Chapter Four: Dreams or Memories?_

  


_ "Now Katherine, I need you brush my hair. Sir Richard shall be arriving at the palace soon. You know I have to look my best." The woman wore a pink dress with a full skirt and lace trimming. Her long wavy blonde hair fell halfway down her back covering the lacing of her tight bodice._

  


_ "Yes, Lady Elaine." The servant girl picked up the wooden brush and began the painstakingly long process of brushing out the noble woman's hair, her own dark hair tucked up under the peasant's cap that matched her brown smock. "Milady, will you be marrying Sir Richard?"_

  


_ "Of all the impertinence, Katherine! How dare you ask me a question like that! You are just a servant, you have no need to know such things!" Lady Elaine shouted as she turned around to slap the woman, a girl really as she was know more than eighteen._

  


_ "Forgive me, milady. I am truly sorry. Pardon my ignorance," Katherine begged, cringing and bowing at the same time, trying to soothe the nerves of the slightly older woman._

  


_ "Yes, you are ignorant and that is why I allow you to be my hand servant," the lady sighed, beckoning the girl to come back. "Now, no more questions Katherine. Please continue with my hair."_

  


_ "Yes milady," she said meekly._

  


_ The door burst open, an older woman walking in. "Pardon the intrusion, milady, but Sir Richard has arrived."_

  


_ "Truly? Katherine, go down and tell Sir Richard that I will be with him shortly," the regal woman commanded._

  


_ "Yes, milady." The young woman walked out of the tower room, curtsying as she left. She shut the heavy oaken door and began the long descent down the twisting stairs. She finally reached the Grand Hall to deliver the Lady Elaine's message. She looked up and saw the knight standing rigidly in the open area and gasped. Before her was the most handsome man she had ever seen. She nervously curtsied to him._

_ He looked at her expectantly, "Where is the Lady Elaine?"_

  


_ "Milady has asked that I-, I deliver a message for her," Katherine managed to stammer out, unable to look at his piercing blue eyes._

  


_ He stared at her, waiting for the servant to continue. He noticed that she appeared to be nervous, but that was to be expected considering what he had heard about the Lady Elaine's temper. "Prithee, what is the message?" he gently prodded._

  


_ "Milady has said that she will be with you shortly." With that, Katherine curtsied once again. "I take my leave, milord" she stated as she turned to ascend the tower stairs and help the Lady Elaine with her preparations._

  


_ He walked up to her, grabbing her arm, causing her to squeal. "Prithee, may I have the honor of knowing your name?" he asked, looking at her dark eyes which were darting around the large room._

  


_ "Please, milord, I must return to her ladyship," she begged, trying to pull out of his grasp. He continued to gaze into her eyes, losing himself in their depths. She struggled frantically, terrified that the Lady Elaine would find her in his arms. Surrendering, she decided to answer his question. "I am Katherine. Now, please, milord, the Lady Elaine will be mad if I do not return soon."_

  


_ He released her, nodding to her as she made her way to the stairs. He sighed, knowing that he should not have this feeling with his intended's hand servant. But, then again, he did not ask for an arranged marriage. That was his father's doing. "Katherine," he whispered, savoring the sound of it upon his lips. He smiled, his first true smile since he had discovered that he was to marry the ill-tempered Lady Elaine. _

  


Yuffie struggled awake from her slumber, remembering her realistic dream. _What was that all about? Oh well_, _it was just a dream_, she thought to herself as she looked around, finding Squall next to her on the small bed in their room on the Gummi ship. He appeared to be enjoying a peaceful sleep; she envied him. She snuggled up to him, enjoying the feel of his bare chest against her back as she began to fall back to sleep.

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


"Yuffie! Come on, Yuf! It's time to get up." Squall sighed loudly, knowing how hard she could be to wake up. He began to shake her only to have her grab the blankets and cover her head, mumbling incoherently. "What was that? I couldn't quite hear you," he laughed.

  


She peeked out from beneath the covers, her eyes blinking from the light overhead. "I said, turn that damn light off. I'm trying to sleep." She pulled her head back beneath the covers, curling into a ball.

  


"Get out of the bed," the Gunblade wielder told her firmly.

  


He heard a muffled voice from the sheets. "Make me!"

  


"Okay, you asked for it!" He ripped the blankets off of her, causing her to curl up even tighter. He jumped on the bed and pounced her, tickling her sides.

  


"Hey, stop it! No fair!" the ninja screamed, struggling to get away from him. She managed to escape his assault, only to fall off the bed onto the hard metal floor. "Ouch! See what you made me do!" she squealed, holding her elbow.

  


Squall reached over the side of the bed and hauled her back onto it. "Let me see," he commanded gently, looking at her elbow where a small bruise was beginning to form. He kissed it, causing her to laugh. "What's so funny?" he asked.

  


"You are. I mean, look at you. The great Squall Leonheart is sitting her, kissing my elbow to make it feel better," she clutched her stomach as she continued to laugh.

  


"You could return the favor instead of laughing, you know," he said sternly, gazing upon the bubbly ninja. He didn't understand how she could be so sleepy one minute and so giggly the next. 

  


"Okay, you win. What hurts?" Yuffie looked up at his azure eyes expectantly, waiting for him to answer. 

  


"Well, I did hurt my neck when I was tickling you," he lied, fully aware that she knew he was lying.

  


"Poor baby. Let me see if I can make it better." Yuffie brought her lips to his throat, making a trail of kisses under his chin. She continued to kiss and suck gently on his neck, finding his pulse point. Squall groaned softly, her delicate lips slowly driving him over the edge.

  


She pulled away as the tears slowly streamed down her cheeks. "Yuffie, what's wrong?" Squall asked gently, confusion crossing his face.

  


"I'm sorry, Squall. It's just not fair. I..." she trailed off, unable to finish as the sobs racked her small frame. Squall pulled her against his chest, gently rocking her and rubbing her back soothingly. "I want to feel your lips on mine, Squall. Is that too much to ask?" she finally managed to get out, silently crying on his white shirt which was now wet with tears. "Damn this curse!" she yelled.

  


"I know, Yuffie, I know," he said softly. He kissed the top of her head, then rested his chin there, still rocking her gently.

  


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They looked out the windows of the Gummi ship, seeing the castle of Hollow Bastion looming before them. Cloud piloted the ship to the docking bay located above the Great Crest of the palace. He brought it in for a soft landing, the door making a whoosh sound as it opened. The blonde slowly stood up and stretched, stiff from sitting in the pilot's seat for the past couple of hours. He felt a small hand softly touch his back.

  


"Well, we've finally arrived. I just hope we can find out the information we need here," Aerith whispered hopefully. 

  


Cloud put his arm around her small waist, pulling her close. "Don't worry, we'll find it," he reassured. "This library has everything."

  


"I guess I better tell everyone we're here." The Flower Girl reluctantly left his side and headed for Kairi and Sora's room. She knocked softly on the cold metal door. "Sora, Kairi, we're here."

  


The door opened a crack, a blushing Kairi peeking around the door. "We'll be out in a minute," the princess stammered breathlessly, shutting the door in Aerith's surprised face.

  


_Well, I guess they've been up to something_, Aerith thought, _and I don't think they wanted to get caught. _She silently laughed at the two teenagers, remembering what it was like to be so young and carefree. She continued down the corridor to Leon and Yuffie's cabin. Knocking softly, she called out, "Leon, Yuffie, we've arrived."

  


Leon opened the door, revealing a red-eyed Yuffie sitting on the bed. "Okay, Aerith. Can you give us a minute?"

  


The pink-clad lady nodded her head. "Is Yuffie okay?" she asked, worriedly looking in at her friend.

  


"Yeah, um...she started thinking about the curse again," Leon told her softly so the young ninja wouldn't hear.

  


"Oh, okay. If you need anything, just tell me," Aerith whispered, wishing she could do something to ease Yuffie's pain. 

  


"We just need a few minutes." Leon shut the door, leaving Aerith standing helplessly in the empty hall. 

  


She went back to the control room where Cloud was still standing, looking out the window. "They'll be out in a little bit," she told him as she leaned her head against his shoulder, sighing softly.

  


"Is everything alright?" the blonde asked, noticing the pained look on Aerith's face. 

  


"Yuffie's upset, but you can't really blame her," she began. "I mean, she's been waiting for Leon to notice her for years. And now, when he does, they find out about this curse." She felt Cloud's strong arms come around her. "I just hope we find the answers here, for Yuffie's sake."

  


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They stepped off the Gummi ship, looking for the first lift stop they could find. Knowing that the light would fade quickly with the fast approaching night, they began to search for rooms. The best rooms were in the Great Crest, so they headed there first, carrying the few bags they had packed. The discovery of three rooms just before the last of the light left showed them that were indeed lucky. Going into their respective rooms, they all said goodnight.

  


Once she had unpacked, Yuffie began to pace in the spacious room she and Squall had picked. Squall lay on the bed, watching her tiredly. "Yuffie, you know, most people sleep at night. You might try it sometime," he told her as he yawned.

  


"But, Squallie, I'm not tired," she whined, sounding like a child.

  


"I don't mind you calling me Squall, but I have to draw the line at 'Squallie,'" he stated calmly. "And, it's not my fault you're not tired. Maybe if you hadn't slept the whole way here you would be able to sleep now." He ignored the fact that she stuck her tongue out at him.

  


"Oh, come on, Squall. You can't be that tired. You slept on the trip, too." She reached down, grabbing his arm, trying unsuccessfully to pull him up out of bed. "Let's go do something."

  


"I am tired, Yuf. Why do you think I'm lying in bed?" She was still pulling his arm when he grabbed her and dragging her across him onto the soft mattress. "Now, go to sleep."

  


"But I'm not tired. I can't sleep if I'm not tired."

  


"Just close your eyes and try to sleep, okay?" He pulled her body up against his. "Or at least lay here and be quiet so I can sleep."

  


"Alright, you win." She reached down to tug the blankets over them. Laying there in his arms she felt as though she was safe from everything the world could throw her way. She noticed that Squall's breathing had slowed, the result of falling asleep. "I love you, Squall," she whispered to his slumbering form. She sighed and slowly closed her eyes.

  


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_"Richard, she knows!" The servant rushed outside to the knight still sitting upon his horse, sweat glistening in the sun from the long day's ride._

  


_ "Katherine, that's ridiculous. How could she possibly know?" He lowered himself from his saddle, reaching for the panicking young woman. _

  


_ "No, she told me if I touched you again she would kill me," she wailed, recoiling from his touch. "I must go. If she discovers that I am out here with you, she will have me beheaded." The hand servant dashed back to the palace, not daring to look back._

  


_ "Katherine, wait!" He ran to her, grabbing her arm to forcibly turn her around. He lowered his mouth to hers, crushing her tender lips. "If she does know, then we will run away." He pulled her back to his steed, but was stopped by a strange voice._

  


_ "So, Katherine, you have disobeyed my orders again." Both the knight and the servant gasped. Before them stood the Lady Elaine, an evil glow emanating around her. "I promised you I would kill you if you touched him again, and I always follow through with my promises_." _She laughed evilly. _

  


_ "Lady Elaine, I refuse to allow you to harm her." Sir Richard pushed Katherine behind him, trying to protect her from the wickedness in front of them. He drew his sword. "I do not look forward to harming a lady, but I will do it to protect her."_

  


_ "Fool. You cannot kill me. Do you know who I am?" Her blue eyes were overtaken by black, completely eclipsing her irises. "I am the Ageless One," she cackled maniacally. She noticed their confused looks. "I have summoned the dark powers of my ancestors_. _I am immortal."_

  


_ As she lunged toward Katherine, Sir Richard buried his sword to the hilt into Lady Elaine's chest. She drew back, looking at them with rage, the wound in her chest healing. "I see. You love this girl, this servant," disgust dripped from her voice with the word 'servant,' "you love her more than your honor, more than your life." She looked at them wonderingly for a moment. "Well, I will allow you to live. But," malice glimmered in her black eyes, "there will be a curse."_

  


_ "A curse?" Katherine whispered, peeking around Sir Richard's body._

  


_ "Yes, a curse." She smirked at the two lovers. "I think a curse would be most fitting for your treachery." The witch backed away from them, beginning to chant._

  


_ "Love may set some free,_

_ But it will imprison thee._

_ Though they be bonds that tie_

_ They will cause one to die._

_ If ever your lips should meet,_

_ It is death she will greet._

_ This curse I place upon the two_

_ Because, in life, I could not part you."_

  


_ She spared a glance to the frightened knight and servant, "Oh, I have forgotten. You two have already kissed. Well, I thought you were going to live, Katherine, but I was wrong." She laughed and disappeared in a dark cloud._

  


_ Katherine looked up to Sir Richard with fear in her eyes. He held her, whispering, "She is wrong. You will not die, Katherine."_

  


_ "Richard, I do not feel well," she gasped as she fell from his arms to the hard ground below. "I love you, Richard." With these last words, she died._

  


_ "NO!" the knight screamed, looking around for the witch, desperation showing clearly in his eyes._

  


Yuffie awoke with a start, sobbing as Squall's arms wrapped around her shaking frame. "Yuffie, what's wrong?" he asked.

  


"I had a nightmare. It was so real, I--" she broke off as her cries choked her up.

  


"Shh, it was just a dream, Yuffie. They're not real," he told her soothingly, rubbing her back.

  


"But Squall, it was like Kairi's dream. You know, the one about the curse." Whispering so softly she could barely be heard, she continued, "I was a servant named Katherine. And, you were the knight Sir Richard. We betrayed my mistress and your fiancee with our love. So cursed us." Yuffie began weeping again. 

  


"But, it was only a dream, Yuffie. I don't think--" Yuffie interrupted him.

  


"It felt like a memory, Squall. A memory of a past life, when we were first cursed." She laid her head on his chest and continued to cry while he stroked her back.

  


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Author's Note: I hope everyone likes this story so far. I don't know how long it will be, but I do have a definite ending in sight. So, Read and Review. 

  



	5. Chapter Five: A Sticky Situation

_Author's Note: _Okay, Chapter five is up and running. I hope you enjoy it. Once again, I would like to thank all the kind reviewers. 

  


Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It is owned by Squaresoft and Disney. And they better be glad I don't own it, because Squall would be locked up in my room right now. Oh, the things I could do to him (smile wickedly), but I can't mention them here. :-)

  


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_Chapter Five: A Sticky Situation_

  


Yuffie walked into the expansive library around noon, still stretching and yawning loudly as she leaned over the balcony to look down upon the rest of the group. Cloud looked at her, annoyance crossing his face. "Well, it's about time you decided to join us," he called up to her sarcastically. "I mean, it's only noon. Are you sure you don't need anymore sleep?" The ninja simply glared at him, not bothering to grace him with an answer.

  


Squall glanced up from the book he was reading to give her a reassuring smile, silently letting her know that he understood why she slept so late. After her dream, Yuffie was unable to go back to sleep until well in the morning, afraid the nightmare would start again. He continued to gaze upon her, seeing the toll the sleepless night had upon her face; dark circles had appeared beneath her dark eyes. He put his book down on the table, marking his page, and ascended the stairs to Yuffie. Squall pulled her away from the edge of the balcony, away from prying eyes, and wrapped his arms around her tiny form. "Did you get anymore sleep?" he whispered.

  


The ninja nodded, yawning again. "Yeah, a little bit. Not nearly enough, though." She backed out of Squall's embrace and ran her small hands through her short black hair, trying to wake up. Her stomach growled suddenly, causing both of them to laugh. "I guess I need to find something to eat," she said as she clutched her still rumbling stomach. "Is there any food here that's edible?"

  


"Yeah, Aerith made pancakes this morning. I had her save some for you," he told her, watching her eyes grow wide with excitement. He knew how much she loved pancakes.

  


Yuffie threw her arms around Squall, squealing, "Thank you sooooo much, Squallie. I love pancakes."

  


"What did I tell you about calling me 'Squallie?'" he reprimanded gently, looking down at her face.

  


"Oh, yes, I forgot. No Squallie." She pulled away from Squall and smiled deviously, "How about Googlybear, then?" 

  


Squall rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "I can't win, can I Yuffie?" He sighed, "Please, please, please, at least don't call me 'Squallie' in front of anyone else. It's bad enough that Sora tried to call me Squall this morning." He didn't like the look in her eyes. "Promise me, Yuf."

  


"Okay, I promise not to call you Squallie or Googlybear in front of anyone else," she said solemnly, savoring his look of annoyance at the name 'Googlybear.' "So, anyways, where are those pancakes?"

  


"Right this way." He put this arm around her waist, guiding her out of the library. He called back down to the others, "We'll be back in a little while."

  


Down below, Cloud muttered under his breath, "Yeah right!" He picked up another book and began flipping through it, not really paying attention to it. He turned to Aerith, who was standing near him. "So, what exactly are we looking for?"

  


She looked at him in frustration, which was not common for the usually sweet Flower Girl, but Cloud could be so dense sometimes. "Like I told you earlier, I'm not sure. Right now, just anything that looks like it might be helpful."

  


Sora and Kairi walked over to Cloud and Aerith, carrying an old, musty book that appeared to be in the last stages of decay. "Hey, Aerith! We found a picture in this book that Kairi says looks familiar," the Keyblade master said excitedly.

  


"Really? That's a start at least," the pink clad lady exclaimed. "Which book is it?"

  


"Um," Kairi turned the book over, looking for a title, "I think it says The History of Medieval Europe on the spine, but I'm not sure. The letters are kind of faded."

  


"Let me see." Cloud roughly grabbed the book from Kairi's grasp, ignoring her hurt look.

  


"Hey, be careful! That book is about to fall apart as it is without you yanking it away!" the princess told him angrily, narrowing her eyes as she glared at him.

  


Cloud flipped through the book while Aerith looked at the pages over his arm. "Where's the picture?" the blonde asked. 

  


Kairi took the book back from him and opened it to the middle, pointing to a castle. "That's the castle from my dream." Cloud and Aerith carefully examined the intricately drawn palace, surprised at the detail the artist had put into it.

  


Aerith took the book and began to read the first few pages. "Well, I don't know how much this book can help. It's about 200 years old. I have no idea how it managed to get here," she admitted. 

  


"Do you think Merlin might know where it came from?" Sora, who had been unusually quiet, inquired hopefully. 

  


"I honestly don't know," Aerith said sadly. "But, we do need to show Yuffie and Leon. Does anyone know where they went?"

  


"They're probably doing who knows what in their room," Cloud muttered, dodging the Flower Girl as she tried to hit his arm. "Well, they could be."

  


"I think I heard them saying something about food," Kairi stated softly. 

  


Cloud walked to the door, beckoning them to follow him. "To the kitchen then." They reached the closed kitchen door and he pushed it open. He stopped abruptly, hardly believing his eyes. His mouth dropped open, giving him a fish-like appearance. There sitting at the table was Yuffie and Leon, syrup covering their clothes, the table, the floor, the wall, everything. Both they and the kitchen were hidden beneath the sticky substance. But the strangest part was the way they just sat there and continued to eat, oblivious to the syrup and Cloud's entrance. "Wha--" he began, unable to finish because of the shock.

  


Yuffie looked up from her plate suddenly, startled. "Um, hi Cloud. Uh, want some pancakes?" she stammered out, blushing furiously. Leon cradled his head in his hands, elbows propped on the sticky table.

  


Aerith pushed past Cloud, who was still blocking the doorway. "Honestly, Cloud, you shouldn't block..." she trailed off when she saw the mess. "What happened in here?" she laughed.

  


Kairi and Sora followed Aerith into the kitchen and simply stared at the syrup-covered ninja and Gunblade wielder before breaking into a fit of giggles. They clutched their stomachs, doubled over with laughter.

  


Yuffie still sat at the table, starting to giggle herself as she thought about the situation. "Aerith, you might want to shut Cloud's mouth before he starts to drool." She pointed to the blonde's still gaping mouth. He shut his mouth together with a snap and continued to stare.

  


Leon stood up slowly to turn and face the group. "We'll clean this up, don't worry."

  


"You still haven't answered my question. What happened in here?" Aerith demanded, mirth still showing in her bright green eyes.

  


"Well, it's a long story," Yuffie told her.

  


"I've got time."

  


"Okay. You see, it's all Squallie's fault." Sora nearly choked when he heard 'Squallie,' ignoring the death look he was receiving from Leon. Yuffie continued, "I had warmed up the pancakes and was getting ready to eat them when Squall stole one from my plate."

  


"I did not steal one. I only took a bite," he said defensively.

  


"_Anyways_, I tried to slap his hand away but I accidently knocked it into the syrup. Then he felt he had to retaliate, so he wiped his hand on my shirt. And before we knew it, it had turned into an all out war with syrup," she finished, watching the group start laughing hysterically, even Cloud.

Sora managed to stop laughing long enough to ask, "Where did all this syrup come from?"

  


"I found it in the pantry when we ran out of ammo on the table," the ninja admitted sheepishly. "Now, if you guys would leave, Squall and I will clean this up as soon as we finish eating." With that, Cloud, Aerith, Sora, and Kairi left the room, forgetting completely about the book.

  


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"I still smell like syrup," Yuffie complained after she had gotten out of the shower. She tied her robe tight around her waist as she walked to the bed where Squall, who had taken the first shower, sat. She still believed he had cheated somehow when they tossed the coin for dibs on the first shower. "Even after washing my hair twice, it still has a syrupy scent. And it's so tangled, I can't comb it, even though it is short," she exclaimed as she tried to unsuccessfully pull a comb through it.

  


"Come here," Squall patted the bed in front of him. He took the comb out of her hands and began to painstakingly comb the tangles out of her ebony locks, careful not to hurt her. "You're right, you do smell like syrup."

  


"So do you," she retorted, wincing as yanked a knot out of her hair. "Hey, that hurt! Be careful!"

  


"Well, I'm finished now, so you can quit complaining." 

  


"You know, after smelling all this syrup, I'm getting kind of hungry." She stood up and started for the door. "I wonder if there's any pancakes left."

  


"You've got to be kidding me," Squall muttered. "Don't you remember what happened earlier?"

  


She laughed. "Okay, I'll find something else to eat. Are you coming?"

  


He followed her out the door and down the stairs to the kitchen. The light was beginning to grow dim as the sun set. It was hard to believe it had taken him and Yuffie all day to clean the kitchen and themselves. Thankfully, Aerith had discovered candles to light the halls of the castle during the dark night. 

  


In the kitchen, they found the rest of their small group eating sandwiches. Yuffie sat down and Squall was about to sit next to her, when Aerith spoke up, "Uh-uh. You two can't sit next to each other anymore."

  


"Why not?" the ninja whined. "We cleaned up the mess."

  


"Yeah, but the kitchen still smells like syrup, and, the table's feels sticky," Aerith explained.

  


Squall ignored her, sitting down beside Yuffie who had already grabbed a couple of sandwiches. He reached across the table to take the last one. "So, find anything interesting today?" Squall asked the group.

  


"You mean besides you and Yuffie covered in syrup?" Sora laughed.

  


Kairi looked up. "Actually, we found a picture of the castle from my dream."

  


Yuffie dropped her half-eaten sandwich. "Really? What book is it in?"

  


"A really old one, a history of something. I can't remember." Sora put his fingers on his lips in thought, tapping them gently. "History of Evil Rope maybe?"

  


Cloud rolled his eyes at the teenager's obvious lack of memory. "It's The History of Medieval Europe, dumbass." He shook his head, muttering, "Who cares about 'evil rope?'"

  


Aerith ignored Cloud's comment. "It's an ancient book. I don't know how much it can help, really."

  


"Can I see it?" Yuffie asked anxiously.

  


"Sure. Kairi, could you get it please?" Kairi nodded to the green-eyed woman, pulling Sora along with her. He managed to grab his sandwich before they left the kitchen.

  


Yuffie began to wring her hands. "Hey, calm down ,Yuf," Squall whispered so only she could hear, placing his large, rough hands around her small, delicate ones. Cloud and Aerith exchanged worried glances with each other at the ninja's nervousness.

  


Kairi solemnly toted the old book into the kitchen while Sora carried a lit candle to light the now darkened way. She placed it on the table and turned to the picture of the castle. Yuffie gasped, "That's it! That's the Lady Elaine's castle!"

  


"Are you sure?" Squall had been watching Yuffie's expression when the picture was revealed to her, noticing the fear and pain in her face.

  


She nodded shakily. "Yes, I would recognize it anywhere. I lived there for many years."

  


Aerith, Cloud, Sora, and Kairi looked at her in shock. "Um, could you repeat that Yuffie? I thought I heard you say you lived there," Aerith said tentatively.

  


"Yeah, I lived there." Yuffie ignored them and continued, "I had a dream last night. A memory actually."

  


"And you're just now telling us?" Cloud yelled, obviously upset at the turn of events. 

  


"Well, I forgot. Besides, I'm telling you now," Yuffie explained calmly. "I remembered being a hand servant named Katherine to the Lady Elaine. She was betrothed to Sir Richard, but they never married." They all looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue. "I was sent down to deliver a message from her to him." Yuffie stopped, trying to figure out how to explain what happened next. "He...um...kind of fell in love with me, which enraged Lady Elaine. She became a witch, and, well, you know what happened next."

  


"And, this Sir Richard, he was Leon, right?" Cloud asked, looking at Leon.

  


"Hey, don't look at me, blondie. I don't remember it, she does." He pointed to the young ninja.

  


"Yes, he was Sir Richard," she answered quietly, laying her head on her arms which rested upon the table. 

  


"Well, I don't think there's much more we can do tonight," Aerith said softly. "Maybe we should all go to bed and try to find more information tomorrow." As she spoke, she rose from the table, taking the plates to the sink. 

  


Everyone stood up to leave except for Yuffie and Squall, who was waiting for the crowd to leave. When they were alone, Squall leaned over and kissed the back of her neck, causing her to gasp. "Come on," he whispered, picking her up and carrying her out of the kitchen with one arm supporting her back and the other under the crook of her knees. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her head against his chest as they ascended the candle lit stairs to their room.

  


Once in their room, he lay her gently on the bed and lay beside her still robe-clad form. She snuggled up against him as he pulled the blankets over their tired bodies. "I'm scared to go to sleep, Squall," she whispered. "What if I have another memory?"

  


"It's okay. I'll be right here if you do." He heard her sigh and watched her eyelids slowly close as sleep overcame her. "I love you, Yuffie," he murmured as he also fell asleep.

  


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Author's Note: I have no idea where the "syrup fight" came from. I was just typing along, then all of sudden it kind of appeared on the page. But, I think it's funny. Anyways, I hope you have enjoyed the story so far and will be kind enough to review. The next chapter may be up by Sunday, maybe sooner. I don't know. 


	6. Chapter Six: A Close Call

Author's Note: Next chapter is up and running. This story is getting harder and harder to write, so don't expect another update for a few days. I think my muse needs a break. Anyways, enjoy.

  


Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, I would not be sitting here writing these stories for free, now would I?

  


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_Chapter Six: A Close Call_

  


"Okay, let's try to figure this out," Cloud began. He was sitting at the table in the library with Aerith next to him, Yuffie and Leon across from him, and Sora sitting cross-legged on the floor with Kairi in his lap, leaning against him. _The History of Medieval Europe_ lay open to the picture of the castle on the table. "Yuffie and Leon lived here, right?" The blonde pointed to the castle. "Also, according to Kairi's dream, this is where the witch is starting to control the Heartless. So, we need to find this world to stop the curse and the Heartless."

  


"Easier said than done, Cloud." Squall leaned forward and pointed to the tattered condition of the book. "Considering the age of this book, it won't help us find that world. I mean, no one knew about other worlds when it was written."

  


"We can take it to Merlin. He collects old books," Sora spoke up, remembering the old book with the missing pages that Cid had him deliver to the wizard a few years ago. 

  


"Yeah, we take it to him and he adds it to his collection. That would help a lot, Sora." Sarcasm dripped from Yuffie's voice as she rolled her eyes at the Keyblade master.

  


"I was thinking he might know something about it," Sora said defensively. "He does know all kinds of strange stuff. Think about it, he is a wizard. He specializes in the arcane."

  


Aerith looked at everyone's face. "You know, we're missing the big picture here. What if this world has been destroyed? Who's to say the witch didn't lose control of the Heartless and they eclipsed that world?"

  


Yuffie gasped, covering her hand with her mouth. "I didn't even think about that." She looked at Squall, "But if the world is gone, how will we break the curse?"

  


Squall shook his head. "Maybe we should just go out and explore different worlds. We might just happen to find it that way."

  


"It would take too long," Kairi said, speaking for the first time since the meeting began. "The Heartless are growing stronger. I can feel it. The witch will soon begin to search for the Princesses of Heart." She lowered her head, silent tears streaming down her face.

  


Sora wrapped his arms around her, whispering, "Don't worry, Kairi. I'll protect you." Looking up at the group, Sora asked, "Why don't we go back to Traverse Town? When we get there, Yuffie and Squall--"

  


"My name is Leon," Squall growled, turning angry eyes on Sora.

  


"Right, Yuffie and _Leon_ can take one Gummi ship while Cloud and Aerith take another to look for this world. In the meantime, Kairi and I can see what we can find out from Merlin," Sora finished.

  


The four sitting at the table thought about this for a few minutes before finally deciding that would be the best thing to do. "Okay, Sora. We'll leave tomorrow," Cloud told him. 

  


"The first thing we need to do when we get to Traverse Town is have some interplanetary communication radios installed on the Gummi ships. We need to be able to keep in touch with each other," Aerith said, knowing that no one else had thought of that.

  


"So, what are we doing for the rest of the day?" Yuffie asked. Everyone shrugged their shoulders. "Okay, so does anyone want to play a game or something?" No one answered her. "Anyone? Anyone at all?"

  


"What did you have in mind, Yuf?" Squall inquired of the young ninja.

  


"Poker." She ran out of the library to find a deck of cards and something to use as poker chips. She found a canister of dried beans in the kitchen. _That'll work, _she thought. She came back in the library and sat on the floor. "Well, come on guys. There's not enough room at the table for everyone, so we have to sit on the floor. I couldn't find any poker chips, so I thought these beans would make do." She held up the canister to show them all.

  


They all sat down in a circle, while Yuffie shuffled the cards. "So, Yuf, what kind of poker are we playing? Texas Hold 'em? Seven Card Stud?" Aerith asked her.

  


"I was thinking about Strip poker." She loved their shocked expressions. Everyone's mouth had dropped open and their eyes had gone wide. She began laughing, "I was just kidding. Geez, you guys all look like a bunch of fish. How about Texas Hold 'em? Everyone familiar with it?"

  


They all nodded as she dealt out the cards. Of course, Squall griped when he had to place the big blind bet. "It's just beans, Squall. It's not real munny," Yuffie soothed as she looked at her cards. Everyone called after she raised. She lay down the first three community cards, raising again. Sora and Aerith folded, claiming the game was getting to rich for them. The fourth community card came up, to which the ninja raised again. Kairi folded, it was only Yuffie, Cloud, and Squall left in the game. The fifth community card was revealed and Yuffie went all-in. Squall was the only one brave enough to call her bet. She revealed her cards.

  


"I don't believe this. You went all-in with a pair of twos?" he asked in disbelief. 

  


"I never said I was good at poker, Squall," Yuffie laughed. "I would have won if you hadn't called. Everyone else chickened out."

  


"But, Yuffie, you're out of the game now," Aerith explained.

  


"I know, but I can still be the dealer. That's the best part anyways," she said happily, already shuffling the cards and having Cloud cut them. 

  


After a few hours, the only players left were Kairi, Aerith, and Squall. Naturally, Squall had the best poker face considering he never showed any emotions whatsoever, but Kairi proved to be quite a good player. The only reason Aerith was still hanging in there was because she played conservatively, hardly ever betting. Yuffie left to get snacks as everyone was beginning to complain about being hungry. She brought back a couple bags of chips she had found in the cabinet and cokes for everyone. Finally, as night was fast approaching, Squall managed to beat Kairi and Aerith, crowing as he grabbed all the beans. "I have defeated you, puny mortals. Now you must pay tribute to me, the King of Poker." 

  


Everyone looked at him like he was insane, this was the first time they had ever seen him excited about anything. "Um, Squall, are you okay?" Yuffie asked tentatively. "They are just beans, after all."

  


Squall regained his stoic expression. "Yeah, whatever." Everyone bursted out with laughter at his mood swings. "Okay, okay, I got a little carried away," he continued, now smiling and chuckling gently.

  


"Oooookay," Cloud began. "Um, yeah, I'm going to bed now, so I'll see you guys in the morning." He ascended the stairs slowly, turning to see if Aerith was coming. She looked at him as if asking 'what.' He cocked his head to the side, signaling for her to follow him.

  


She got the hint. She faked a yawn, "Ya know, I'm kind of tired too. I think I'll go to bed." She hurried up to Cloud, who was waiting at the door for her. Once they were out of the library, she asked him, "Okay, what did you want?"

  


"Is it just me, or does Leon seem to be in an extraordinarily good mood lately?" Cloud appeared to be confused by his friend's sudden emotions.

  


Aerith laughed gently. "Yes, he does seem happier than he's ever been before." She stopped to kiss her lover. "But, I think I know why."

  


Cloud looked at her expectantly. "Well, are you going to enlighten me?"

  


The Flower Girl slowly shook her head at his blindness. "Think, Cloud. What has happened lately that might make him happy?"

  


"I don't know, coming to Hollow Bastion?"

  


"You are so dense sometimes," she sighed. "Yuffie has happened to him."

  


"But, he and Yuffie have been partners for years and he's never been this happy before." Cloud was still confused.

  


"He's in love, silly. Don't you remember what it was like with us?" she questioned, suddenly feeling like an old married couple.

  


A smile crossed the blonde's face. "Yeah, I remember. They couldn't keep us off each other." The memory of what had happened when he found Aerith after Sora sealed Kingdom Hearts flashed through his mind.

  


_"Aerith, look what I found out at Rising Falls," Cid announced as he walked into the library._

  


_ "Cid, if it's another stray dog, please take it to Yuffie. She can bathe it for me," the pink-clad lady said without looking up from the book she was reading._

  


_ "Well, I don't know if you want Yuffie bathing this dog," the Gummi pilot smirked._

  


_ Aerith raised her head, furrowing her brows as Cid stepped away to reveal Cloud standing behind him. "Cloud? Is it really you?" She walked over to him slowly, hardly daring to believe he was really there. She touched his shoulder, making sure he wasn't a figment of her imagination._

  


_ "Aerith," he whispered huskily, grabbing her in a crushing embrace. He picked her up and swung her around, kissing her fiercely as she squealed in delight._

  


For the next few months after their reunion they were inseparable, holding hands everywhere they went. Cloud thought about Leon and Yuffie, and smirked. _The great Squall Leonheart has fallen in love, _he thought.

  


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Back in the library, Yuffie and Squall were looking at Sora and Kairi intently, almost glaring at them really. "Uh, Kairi, I think we should go to our room as well," the chocolate-haired boy said, finally getting the hint. He pulled the princess up off the floor and headed upstairs to the Great Crest, tickling her as they left.

  


"Well, they finally got the hint," Yuffie muttered after the two teenagers left the library. "So, Mr. King of Poker, what kind of tribute must we pay you?" the ninja teased, punching Squall gently in the shoulder.

  


"I was thinking something along the lines of this," he whispered in her ear as he lowered his lips to her collar bone.

  


She moaned as his lips fluttered across her skin. "If you're the King, shouldn't I be doing this to you?" she managed to gasp out as he continued his assault.

  


He raised his head and looked in her dark eyes. "You could, but if I'm the King, then you are my Queen and we share all tributes between each other." He paused, savoring the look of delight in _his_ ninja's eyes. Momentarily losing himself in the depths of her eyes, he was brought back to the present by her soft sigh. "Besides," he continued, "I enjoy doing this as much as you do." 

  


"Well, then please continue. I should not want to rob you of any enjoyment you might get from doing this." He nodded and began caressing her throat with his warm lips, causing her to whimper in pleasure as she ran her hands through his tangled russet hair. 

  


After a few more minutes of this, Yuffie gently pushed him away, causing him to look at her in confusion. "I–, I'm sorry Squall," she stammered. "But if you had done that for much longer, I wouldn't have been able to stop myself, curse or no curse." Tears fell slowly out of her eyes, staining her pale cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Squall."

  


Squall pulled her to him, crushing her to his chest in an embrace, just holding her as the tears ran their course. "You shouldn't be sorry, baby. It's my fault. If you hadn't stopped me, then I don't know what would have happened," he whispered in her ebony hair. He chuckled gently, "Actually I do know what would have happened."

  


"Did you just call me 'baby?'" Her question was muffled by Squall's shirt.

  


"Yeah, I did."

  


"Good, I thought so." She sat up and kissed his cheek before getting to her feet and heading for the stairs. "Come on, let's go to bed. We have a long trip tomorrow." He followed her up to the balcony and through the door to the lift stop, praying they would find a way to stop the curse soon before it was too late.

  


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The trip back to Traverse Town proved to be rather uneventful. Everyone kept to their respective cabins except for Squall and Yuffie who were chosen to pilot the Gummi ship. The only high point was when Kairi came running out of her and Sora's room in nothing but her underwear.

  


"AAAAAAAAAAAH!" the red-head screamed, jumping on the first empty seat she could find in the control room. 

  


"Um, Kairi, you do know that you're half-naked, don't ya?" Yuffie asked as she watched the princess continue to dance and scream on the seat. 

  


Aerith and Cloud came out of their room to see who was yelling. "Kairi, calm down," Aerith commanded. Kairi stopped screaming, then realized how she was dressed and started blushing. "Now, what's wrong? What happened?" the Flower Girl asked gently.

  


"I s-saw a sp-spider," she stuttered, embarrassed at her current state of dress. Squall and Cloud had turned their heads, but the girls continued to stare at her in disbelief. "It was huge and it was chasing me," she said defensively.

  


"Hey Kairi, I killed that spider," Sora called as he walked into the room in nothing but a pair of shorts. He carried a wadded up tissue in his hand.

  


"Is that the spider in there?" Yuffie inquired. The Keyblade master nodded and opened the tissue to show a tiny smashed speck. She laughed, "that's the huge spider she was running from?"

  


Kairi climbed down from the chair and looked around sheepishly. "It looked a lot bigger when it was chasing me." She ran back to their room, blushing furiously. Sora followed her, throwing the spider in the trash can on his way.

  


The others looked at each other, before bursting out with hysterical laughter. Catching her breath, Yuffie pondered, "I wonder why they were both half-naked?" This caused everyone to start chuckling again, suddenly realizing what the two teenagers were doing.

  


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After the spider incident, they landed at an unusually quiet Traverse Town. The First District was completely empty when they disembarked; the shops were even closed up. "I don't like the looks of things," Squall stated.

  


"It's too quiet. It hasn't been like this since the Heart..." Yuffie trailed off, thinking for a moment. "You don't think they've come back, do you?"

  


Sora pulled out his Ultima weapon. "Well, we'll just have to see." They all started walking together toward the Third District to go to Merlin's house. He opened the door and the group walked through the large double doors, jumping as they slammed behind them. Suddenly, there was the familiar clank of metal in the center of the district.

  


"Oh, shit," Squall muttered under his breath as he brandished the Gunblade. "Defenders. Everyone, watch out for the fire balls. Remember, their only weak spot is their back," he commanded, quickly falling into leader mode. 

  


By now, the Defender had spotted them, the eyes on his shield glowing red. Yuffie pulled out a handful of shurikens, ready for the battle to come. Sora pushed Kairi into a corner, telling her to stay put since she couldn't fight. Cloud had already engaged the creature in battle with his long Buster sword before the others had realized what he was doing. Sora ran to help, jumping over the Defender to begin to hack away at his back. The ninja's shurikens began flying through the air as she fought and dodged the fire balls. Squall came to help her, deflecting the flames as they came toward her. Finally, Sora managed to finish the beast with a powerful strike from the Keyblade, causing the monster to disappear in a cloud of black.

  


"Well, that was invigorating," Yuffie panted, bending over with her hands propped on her knees. "Is everyone okay?" Everyone nodded.

  


"So, the Heartless have returned. We need to find this witch quickly, before she gains to much power," Aerith calmly stated, still in shock from the battle.

  


"Let's hurry up and get to Merlin's before another one shows up," Cloud yelled as he started toward the flame embossed door. Everyone followed his lead, with Kairi bringing up the rear.

  


"Wait," Yuffie called as she stopped to pick up the munny the Heartless had dropped when he died. "Wow! There's got to be more than two hundred munny here," she exclaimed as she ran to catch up with the others.

  


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They walked into the wizard's house only to find it had been abandoned. Nothing remained, not even the book Sora had been helping Merlin with. "Okay, I don't like this. He's always here," Sora said as he looked around the empty room.

  


"So, what do we do now?" Yuffie asked, trying to figure out where the old wizard and Fairy Godmother could possibly have gone to.

  


"Let's try to find Cid. He can at least install the communication radios on the Gummi ships so we can begin our search," Aerith said.

  


"Yeah, let's go," Squall agreed, already heading for the door.

  


They reached the Accessory Shop to find it closed and boarded up. Cloud busted down the door, only to find the room beyond empty. "Well, let's get what we need. I don't think Cid'll mind," the blonde declared as he walked to the basement where the Gummi parts were kept. He emerged a few minutes later carrying three radios. "Okay, I think this will do it. Are you guys ready to go?"

  


"I think Kairi and I will stay here to fight off the Heartless," Sora announced. 

  


"Alright, but you still need one of these radios so we can keep in touch with you." Cloud handed the teenager one of the radios in his arms and started for the door.

  


"We'll call and tell you if we find the world," Yuffie told Sora and Kairi. "Then, you guys can come and help us defeat the witch. Just, please be careful here. We don't need something to happen to you guys." She hugged them both as she started to the World Exit with Squall, Cloud, and Aerith.

  


"Don't worry. I have the Keyblade to protect us," Sora yelled as they disappeared behind the closing doors.

  


"I hope they'll be okay," Kairi whispered, holding onto Sora's arm as her friends flew off in their ships.

  


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Author's Note: I hope everyone liked this chapter. I don't know how many more chapters there will be. I mean, they do have to find the right world, and then they have to find the witch. And, then they do have to figure out how to break the curse when they do find her. Anyways, Read and Review. Oh, and as always, thank you to all the reviewers.


	7. Chapter Seven: New Worlds

Author's Note: Okay, here's Chapter Seven. I'm going to put the Disclaimer at the bottom this time because I don't want to give away the who, what, and where in this chapter. By the way, this is my longest chapter so far at nearly 4,000 words, so have fun and enjoy!

  


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_Chapter Seven: New Worlds_

  


"Okay, what world is that?" Yuffie asked as she looked out the front window of the Gummi ship at the desert world in front of her. She and Squall had been traveling from world to world, searching for the witch that was once the Lady Elaine for the past month with no luck. So far, the worlds they had been to were inhabited by peoples who had never heard of Gummis or other worlds. And dealing with the curse became increasingly harder as they were alone in cramped quarters.

  


"For the last time, Yuffie, I don't know. I didn't know what the last world was either until we found all those little blue men." Squall shuddered at the memory of that world. When they had arrived, they stepped out into the middle of a fight between one normal-sized man with an orange cat and about a dozen little blue men.

  


_"Ignore those two Azrael," the old man had screamed at the curious cat who was examining Yuffie and Leon, "and get those Smurfs!" Th_e _old man was balding, had big bushy black eyebrows, and wore a big black smock. He looked like the epitome of evil. The cat had started chasing the little blue men, who were running around screaming._

  


_ "Papa Smurf, Papa Smurf," the lone female had yelled, "Gargamel's after us again." She ran around squealing as the cat chased her. She noticed the two out-of-worlders. "Hurry Papa Smurf! He has friends!"_

  


_ An older Smurf, dressed in red unlike the others who wore white, stepped forward. "Come, my little Smurfs, run for the forest and hide."_

  


_ Yuffie looked at Squall, "Am I dreaming? Or are there little blue men running around?" Squall didn't answer her; his look of amazement at the scene was enough for her. She watched as the cat Azrael scattered the Smurfs. "No matter, we have to help_ _those little guys." With that, she chased after the hissing cat, grabbing it by the scruff of its neck, and hauled it back to the old man._

  


_ "You fool! You have let them escape," he had screamed, stomping his feet in rage. Then he began laughing evilly, "But I will have them yet."_

  


_ "Ow! Damn cat!" Yuffie yelled as it scratched her arms trying to escape. _

  


_ "Okay," Squall began, "I think I am officially in the Twilight Zone." He shook his head and looked around him. On one side, there was a thick forest full of old trees; on the other, a dilapidated old shack. "Time to find out some answers," he muttered before facing the ugly man. "Where are we and who are you?"_

  


_ The man sneered at Squall disdainfully, "We're at the edge of a forest, dimwit. And, I am the evil sorcerer Gargamel." _

  


_ Yuffie looked up from scratches on her arm to stare at him in confusion. "You admit that you are evil. Geez, at least you could pretend that you're good."_

  


_ "Why? Everyone already knows it. Now, I must be going. I have to find another way to trap those delectable little Smurfs since you have ruined my plan." He turned and marched back to his hovel, the cat Azrael following him._

  


_ Squall stopped him with a yell, "Wait a minute! Did you say 'delectable?' You weren't going to eat them, were you?"_

  


_ "Of course I was, fool. What else do you do with Smurfs?" With that, Gargamel slammed the door shut._

  


_ "That was weird," Squall murmured. "I think we should leave now, Yuf. We're not going to find out anything here."_

  


_ "I have to make sure those Smurfs, or whatever they're called, are alright. Come on, let's go." She pulled Squall into the forest after them. "Besides they might know something."_

  


_ Squall sighed in defeat and allowed himself to be dragged into the woods, narrowly missing hitting his head on a tree limb. "Hey, watch it! I was nearly decapitated!" he yelled._

  


_ "I'm sorry," the ninja laughed. She let his arm fall so she could cup her mouth and call, "Um, little Smurfs, come on out. We're not going to hurt you. We only want to ask you a few questions." She looked around, but didn't see anything. They continued walking and calling until they stumbled upon cluster of red mushrooms with white spots. _

  


_ As they strolled through there, they heard panicked screaming._ _Yuffie and Squall stopped, trying to see where the yells were coming from when they heard an angry voice from below. "Hey, watch where you put your smurfin' foot. You nearly smurfed my house."_

  


_ Startled, Yuffie looked down to see the Smurfs coming out of the mushrooms. "Oh, there you are. I have a few questions to ask."_

  


_ "Okay, just be smurfy with it." The one that said this had a tattoo on his shoulder. It looked like a heart with an arrow through it, but Yuffie and Squall couldn't be sure since it was so small._

  


_ "Yeah, okay, um, we're from another world and we're looking for a witch called Lady Elaine," Yuffie managed to get out without laughing at the fact that she was talking to a blue man that was about an inch tall._

  


_ "Sorry, I can't smurfin' help you with that. The closest thing we have to a witch is smurfin' Gargamel." The Smurf continued to think for a minute, then realized what the ninja had said. "Wait a smurfin' minute! Did you say you were from another smurfin' world?"_

  


_ Squall glared at the little man, "Yeah, what's it to you?" He was tired of all this. He was especially tired of the way this smurf kept saying everything was 'smurfin' this or 'smurfin' that._

  


_ "Well, excuse me. I've never heard of another world before." With that, the Smurf stomped back into his mushroom house and slammed the door, making a barely heard noise._

  


_ Squall grabbed Yuffie's arm. "Let's go. They don't know anything here." Yuffie nodded and they rambled through the woods until the finally stumbled across their ship._

  


Squall was brought out of the reverie he had fallen into when Yuffie shook his shoulder. "Are you alright, Squall? You seemed kinda out of it for awhile."

  


"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about that last world." 

  


She laughed. "It was just smurfy, wasn't it?"

  


"Now don't you start." He looked out at the world in front of them, as Yuffie had done earlier, trying to figure out where they were headed. From a distance, all he could see was sand. But, upon closer inspection, he saw that the world was really a valley surrounded by rocky mountains. Sparse vegetation dotted the landscape and dirt roads criss-crossed the entire valley. He continued to stare as they drew closer for the landing and saw that a small town actually existed in this desert. "Yuffie, do you have any idea where we are?"

  


"Not any more than you do, Squall. Do we really need to land here?" She hated the thought of leaving their comfortable ship for the sun-parched land below them. It looked as though this world had never seen rain.

  


Noticing her discomfort, Squall walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her small waist and resting his chin on her head. "Yes, we do. We are running out of supplies and we should be able to buy some here." He felt Yuffie nod her head in defeat.

  


"Hey, I think I see a sign." Yuffie squinted in the bright sunlight as she tried to read the sign as they flew past it. "It says...'Perfection, Nevada...Population 15.' I don't think we'll find many supplies here, Squallie."

  


"Okay, so this was a bad world to come to for supplies. However, we have to buy some food here or we'll go hungry until we come to another world. And, knowing your stomach, we better get it here."

  


"Okay, you and my stomach win."

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


Across the universe, Cloud and Aerith were floating around aimlessly in their Gummi ship, trying to find another world to check out. In the past month, they had only come across two worlds, and neither of them were places where their Gummi could be easily landed. The only life forms on the first world looked like large lizards. Cloud had intended to land there, but the larger lizard thing had tried to eat the ship before it even landed, snapping its massive dagger-like teeth-filled jaws. Soon after they left this world, they came across another, only to find it a water world. Aerith lowered a periscope into the water to look around, only to see little people swimming around with what looked like snorkels attached to the top of their heads. Cloud and Aerith opted to _not_ land on this world, since there was no land.

  


"Cloud, that world ahead appears to be landable," Aerith said as she pointed to the beautiful green world they were closing in on.

  


"I know, Aerith, that's why I'm landing there," he told her matter-of-factly.

  


They landed the ship and stepped out to look around, only to find large flying lizards breathing fire all around them. Aerith screamed and clutched Cloud's arm. They heard a voice from behind them, "Calm down. The dragons will not hurt you."

  


They turned around to see an old wise looking man gazing at them. Cloud stepped in front of Aerith, as though to protect her. "Who are you?" he demanded.

  


"I am the green wizard Carolinus. You are from another planet, correct?" the wizard asked. They nodded in agreement. "What brings you to my world?"

  


"We are seeking a way to break a curse," Aerith explained, finally brave enough to step out from behind Cloud.

  


"But you are not the one's cursed, this much I can see." The wizard stood there, pondering for a moment. "Well, come with me. I'll see if I can help you with this curse." The green wizard looked up at the sky, "Gorbash, Smrgol, come down. I need your help." With that two of the large flying creatures, a reddish-brown one and a green one, came down, releasing fire as they did so.

  


"What are those things?" Aerith inquired as scared as she was.

  


"Things?! Things?! Uncle Smrgol, did you hear what she called us?" the green one had yelled, stomping his feet and puffing up with air.

  


"Calm down, Gorbash before you build up too much gas in your stomach. They are from another world," Carolinus soothed. He turned to Cloud and Aerith, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you didn't know what they are." He sighed. "They are dragons. The young green one is Gorbash, and the older one is Smrgol. They have been my faithful companions through the years."

  


"Are they like Sir Peter?" Smrgol asked Carolinus, lowering himself so the wizard could climb onto his back between his two powerful wings.

  


"Yes and no, my faithful friend. They are simply from a world that does not have dragons," the wizard answered. He motioned to Cloud and Aerith, "Come, climb onto Gorbash and we will fly to my home where my daughter, the Princess Millicent will be able to see what she can about this curse."

  


Cloud and Aerith looked at each other before finally deciding it would be safe enough to ride the young temperamental dragon. They both climbed onto his back between the large wings, and held on in fear as the creature slowly began to fly into the air. The flight was a long one, traveling over many green pastures and flowing rivers. 

  


As they neared a small cottage, the dragon Smrgol began lowering himself in flight as red flames flew out of his mouth, frightening Cloud and Aerith. The green wizard Carolinus looked back at them, hollering, "Gorbash, don't forget to turn your head as you release the fire."

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


In Traverse Town, Sora and Kairi continued to fight off the Heartless as they searched for a clue of some kind as to wear the rest of the townspeople had gone. They found nothing to signify that there had been a battle of any kind. The town was simply deserted. They had set up residence in the small house that had once been Geppetto's shop since it was located in the only Heartless free area, the First District.

  


"Any news from the others?" Sora asked Kairi as soon as he walked into their small house. He did this every night, hoping to here some good news for once. He was tired of constantly fighting off the Heartless, who just kept reappearing all over the place.

  


"No, I haven't heard from them today." Kairi bit her lip, "I hope they're okay." She was always so nervous when they didn't hear from at least one of them everyday.

  


"Hey now, you know as well as I do that they're safe. Yuffie and Leon make a formidable fighting force together. And, well, Aerith has Cloud to protect her." Sora's eyes glazed over as he thought about the tournaments where he had fought against Cloud. "Cloud is all the protection she needs, believe me."

  


"I know, but I just feel so useless here. I can't help you fight. I can't help them. I'm just dead weight." The princess looked down at the floor, tracing patterns with her foot.

  


Sora walked over to her and tipped her chin up with his hand. "No, Kairi. I need you. If I didn't have you, I wouldn't be able to fight." He looked deep into her eyes, losing himself momentarily. "You're my strength," he whispered as he leaned down to kiss her.

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


"Squall, I don't like this place. It seems to be a ghost town." Yuffie looked around the small, dusty town as the cruel unforgiving sun beat down upon her, causing sweat to form on her brow. The town had no people as far as they could see.

  


"Well, then we'll just get what we need from the store and leave," Squall guided the ninja towards the small general store on their left.

  


"Hey, get off the ground!" Squall and Yuffie looked around for the source of the voice, not seeing anyone anywhere. "Up here!" They looked up to see a man about twenty-five, a couple of years younger than Squall, wearing a white cowboy hat leaning over the roof of the store to yell at them.

  


"What are you talking about?" Squall demanded, having no intentions of listening to this crazy person.

  


"Hurry up and get off the ground! They're coming!"

  


"Um, Squall, I think we should do what he says," Yuffie said as she pulled him to the side of the building, already starting to climb up herself.

  


"Alright, if you insist." He clumsily scaled the wall. Once on the roof, he saw two other people besides the one who had yelled at them, an older man with graying hair who appeared to be around forty and a young woman about twenty-three or so. "Okay, can you tell me why we are on the roof?"

  


"Shh, they hunt by vibrations in the ground," the woman whispered.

  


"What does?" Yuffie whispered back.

  


The older man walked over to them, smoking a cigarette. "We're not exactly sure. They just showed up around here a couple of days ago. The sons of bitches travel under the damn ground and attack you before you know it." He glanced at Yuffie, then smiled sheepishly, "Pardon my French. By the way, I'm Earl, this here," he pointed to the woman, "is Rhonda, and that bastard over there is Val."

  


"I'm Yuffie and this is Squall." They all shook hands. "Um...look, we aren't from around here," Yuffie began, noticing that Squall was going to let her do all the talking. "We're from another world and we just stopped for some supplies." 

  


"Well, you won't be getting any supplies with those things out there," the man called Val said. "We can't even get off the roof without them attacking us. Watch." With that he threw a rock down on the ground. As soon as it hit, a monster came out and swallowed it. The monster's mouth opened with three lower jaws and had three tentacles that looked like snake heads pulling the rock into its throat. "See?"

  


Squall grabbed Yuffie's arm and pointed at the thing below. "Yuffie, did you see that?"

  


"Yes, Squall, I'm not blind, ya know." Sarcasm dripped from her voice as said this.

  


"No, not the monster itself. On its head. It had a Heartless emblem."

  


Rhonda pushed herself between Yuffie and Squall. "Wait a minute, you know where these things came from? Because they are a complete mystery to me. There are no fossil records of this creature. It is completely unprecedented."

  


Yuffie nodded. "Yeah, we fight the Heartless all the time. Although, we've never seen one like this before."

  


By now, Val and Earl had approached them. "So, do you think you can kill 'em?" Val asked.

  


Squall pulled out his Gunblade, startling the strangers. "Yeah. But only if you give us the supplies we need."

  


"Damn it. If you kill the sons of bitches, I'll give you anything you want," Earl yelled. "Pardon my French."

  


"Come on, Yuf. Let's go kill some Heartless." With that, Squall and Yuffie jumped off the building. Yuffie, naturally, landed on her feet. However, she couldn't say the same thing for Squall, who had fallen on his butt. She hauled him up as the first creature came in for the attack, but not fast enough. The head burst out of the ground, and one of the tentacles latched onto Squall's leg.

  


"Squall!" Yuffie yelled, throwing her shurikens at the snake-like tentacle, trying to sever it. However, she didn't realize that another creature had come up behind her, grabbing her as well. 

  


"Help!" she screeched as the teeth dug into her leg. She began hacking away at it with her shuriken, not doing much damage. She finally managed to cut the head-like appendage away and turned her head to look for her partner. "Squall! Where are you?"

  


She saw him, swinging his blade repeatedly into the strange Heartless's massive head. She noticed that this particular creature had lost all three of its tentacles to Squall's blade. As she was running to help him, she was dragged down again by the same beast that she had just escaped from. She reached for her shuriken, only to find she was out. She screamed in terror, "Squall! Help! I'm out of shuriken!"

  


He twisted around, seeing his beloved being pulled toward this monster's hideous mouth. He aimed the Gunblade into its mouth and fired, causing orange flesh to fly everywhere, most of it landing on Yuffie. He ran over and unwrapped the snake head from her leg, revealing many bleeding gashes in her skin. "Are you okay?" he whispered as he picked her up to carry her back on the roof.

  


"Yeah, I think so. What about the other one?" She looked around, fearing it would come up from beneath them to attack.

  


"Don't worry about that one, I don't think he'll be bothering anyone anymore," he answered, cocking his head to the side to show the mess he had made with the creature.

  


"Hey, how many are there?" Squall called up to the people on the roof, still holding the bleeding ninja in his arms as he tried to figure out how to get up there with her.

  


Rhonda leaned over, "As far as I can tell, there were four originally. But, Val and Earl killed one when it ran into a concrete wall. Then Burt and his wife managed to kill another."

  


"So, there were just two left over then, right?" Yuffie asked, wincing as the pain in her legs grew.

  


"Yeah."

  


"Well, now there are none. Squall just killed them."

  


"Already?" Val asked incredulously, looking down at them to see the bodies of the creatures.

  


Silently, Yuffie wondered why the bodies of these particular Heartless didn't disappear as the others do. But, seeing the blood streaming down her legs caused her to forget about that thought.

  


Val, Earl, and Rhonda climbed down from the roof slowly, half expecting another monster to attack them. They walked into the store with Yuffie and Squall, pointing out the gauze and antiseptic Squall would need to bandage her wounds. They also handed a towel to the ninja to wipe off the remains of the creature. Yuffie eyed the bottle of disinfectant warily. "Squall, do we really need to use that?"

  


"Unless you want an infection to settle in, then yes," he answered as he set the light girl on the counter. He began to pour the antiseptic onto a cloth, smelling the strong odor from the bottle.

  


Yuffie sighed in defeat, "Alright, just make it quick." She closed her eyes and winced, waiting for the pain she anticipated. It never came. "Um, Squall, could you do it today? I would really like to get going," she demanded, her eyes still closed tight. Suddenly, she felt a deep burning sensation going up and down her legs. "Owww!" she screeched at the top of her lungs, digging her fingernails into the palms of her hands. After what seemed like ages, she felt the bandages being taped over her still burning wounds and a small kiss was planted on her forehead as she opened her eyes.

  


"Okay, Yuffie, it's over. We can go now." Squall helped her down from the counter and gathered food from the grocery shelves.

  


They walked back to their Gummi ship, waving at the three people left in the small town. Both Squall and Yuffie had to admit they were glad to be getting away from this desert place. As soon as the door to their ship slid open, they could feel the air conditioning blowing out to them, a welcome relief from the hot sun outside.

  


"Remind me to never go to a desert again," Yuffie complained as she lay her sweaty head on the cool metal wall of their ship. She stood back up and started for the bathroom. "Now, I'm going to take a shower and try to wash the rest of this Heartless flesh from body," she said disdainfully as the door shut.

  


Squall laughed silently, shaking his head at the girl. He started the Gummi ship up and headed back out into the universe, away from this insane planet.

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


Author's Note: I'm sorry about the absolute randomness of this world. This chapter is the result of watching too many cartoon's on Boomerang, childhood movies, and corny horror movies from the late eighties/early nineties. Now, on a less entertaining note, I have an exam coming up on Monday, so I don't know if I'll have another chapter posted until after then. I would also like to take this time to thank all my reviewers. I would name you, but it would take too much time, so I will wait until the story is completely finished. And now the disclaimer.

  


Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Smurfs, Snorks (the water world Cloud and Aerith didn't land on), the movie Tremors (the desert world), or the movie Flight of Dragons (where Cloud and Aerith are). I think that is all of the worlds mentioned in this particular chapter, but if there is another, I probably don't own it either.

  



	8. Chapter Eight: A Quest? And, What Just H...

Author's Note: VL, I just have to say that you have been giving me great ideas. I had never even thought about using scenes from Fantasia. Now, since I have updated this story, when will "How Do I Loathe Thee?" be updated? Just kidding, don't rush yourself. I know you'll post it when you have it perfect, as always.

  


By the way, my muse has been making random appearances when I am supposed to be paying attention in class. I don't think my professors appreciate it when I start to zone out and map out chapters in my head while they are lecturing. No matter, I'll just have to keep pulling all-nighters to get my studying done and this story out of my head.

  


Disclaimer's at the bottom.

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~__

  


_Chapter Eight: A Quest? And, What Just Happened To Us?_

  


The dragon Gorbash slowly descended to the ground, careful not to burn Cloud and Aerith with his flames as he released the gas from his stomach. Cloud immediately jumped off and reached up to lower his beloved to the soft, springy grass as well. Both were relieved to be back on solid ground. There was just something wrong with flying around on a dragon that could possibly decide to turn them into burnt toast at any minute.

  


Behind them, the wizard Carolinus had started for his small cottage, beckoning them to follow him. "Come, the Princess Millicent and I may be able to help with the curse you speak of."

  


They hurried after the old wizened man, afraid to be alone with the dragons. Who knows when they might get hungry and crave human flesh. Cloud held the door open and ushered his Flower Girl into the house. Both of their jaws dropped when they saw the massive pile of gold in the corner. "Um...why do you have all this gold in here?" Aerith asked, nervously.

  


"Because Gorbash sleeps on it," replied a beautiful young woman with long golden hair and a long golden gown to match her luxurious hair. She smiled warmly at the two, before turning to Carolinus. "Father, I have summoned the Silver Owls of the Full Moon, as you have asked."

  


"Wait a minute," Cloud interrupted, "that monster sleeps in here...on gold?" 

  


"Yes, of course. He is our house dragon. And as you know, dragons cannot sleep on anything that will ignite, so they use gold for their bed because it is the softest metal," the golden-haired beauty explained, acting as though everyone knew that.

  


"My child," Carolinus began, "they are from another world. They are...I'm sorry, I forgot to ask your names."

  


Aerith stepped forward, "I'm Aerith, and this is Cloud."

  


"Yes, Cloud and Aerith, those names seem familiar." The wizard appeared to be in deep thought. Shaking his head and coming back to his senses, he continued, "But, before I forget myself, this is my daughter, the Princess Millicent."

  


"Wait a minute! Did you say our names sounded familiar?" Cloud demanded of the old man. Wizard or no wizard, he was going to get some answers.

  


"Of course. Antiquity has shown me the great deeds you will do here before you leave." Carolinus walked over to the open window at the front of the room. "Ahh, the Silver Owls have come." Three small silver owls [A/N: kinda a given since they are called the 'silver owls'] flew into the room and landed with a soft flutter on the table. The owls picked up three tiny scrolls and flew away into the fast approaching night. "I am summoning my brothers to help with the quest you must begin."

  


"Quest? Who said anything about a quest? We're just here to get help with a curse," Cloud yelled, becoming very impatient with this crazy man who talked with owls and this thing called Antiquity. Aerith placed a small hand on his arm, trying to restrain him from getting physical with the wizard.

  


"Yes, you have been summoned here by Antiquity to help my planet. Sir Peter, who has come from another time, will join you, as well as Gorbash." Carolinus sat at the table, head placed in his hands. "You see, our magic in this world is being destroyed by man's logic and machines. In order to help you find a way to break your friends' curse, I will need all the magic available. Therefore, you must go on a quest."

  


"Forget this," Cloud muttered as he walked toward the door. Looking over his shoulder, he called, "Aerith, come on. We'll find some help from another world."

  


"No, Cloud." Aerith stood by the wizard, hands on her hips and her feet firmly planted. "This may be our only chance to help Yuffie and Leon. We have to do this." She gave him the dreaded puppy dog look, hoping it would work like it always did.

  


The swordsman sighed. He could never resist that look. "Okay, you win. But we're only doing this because of Yuffie and Leon." He stalked back over to the table, and sat down, glaring at Carolinus. 

  


"Father, who are these brothers you speak of? I know you are Green wizard of nature's realm, but you have never mentioned anyone else." Millicent approached the white-haired man, placing her hand on his shoulder.

  


Carolinus looked up at the people around him. "The first is the blue wizard Solarius. He is lord of the depths and the heights. His realm is outer space, deepest ocean, and highest mountain. And my brother, Lo Tae Shao is the golden wizard; his realm is light and air. He is lord of transcendence, healing, and contemplation. Finally, my last brother, Ommadon, the red wizard, lord of the devil's domain, seducer of darkness, and the master of black magic."

  


"Hold on!" Aerith shouted. "Did you just say that one of your brothers is evil? And you are summoning him?" She placed a hand across her brow, obviously confused how someone evil could possibly help.

  


"Yes, my child. According to the Laws of Antiquity, the four brothers of magic must meet together to consult the fate of magic in this world." Carolinus stood up, and walked to a small satchel near the door. "The hour grows late. I must meet them at the Temple of All Antiquity." He opened the door, hollering, "Gorbash, come, we must leave."

  


Millicent followed her father out the door, waving to him as he flew away upon the young green dragon. "Father, do be careful."

  


Inside the small cottage, Aerith and Cloud looked at each other. "What have we got ourselves into?" the blonde mumbled as he rubbed his face with his hands.

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


"Squ-all!" the young ninja pleaded, "can we please stop at another world soon? I'm starting to go insane in this small ship." 

  


Squall glanced over at his co-pilot. "Hate to break it to ya, babe, but you were already insane." He grabbed her wrist as she playfully tried to swat at him. Turning her hand palm side up, he gently kissed it. He let her hand fall and looked out into the void of space before them. "Okay, Yuf. We'll stop at the next world we come to. But, you do remember what happened at the last world, don't ya?" 

  


Yuffie, shuddered. "Yes, I remember those horrible things. It took me forever to get their flesh out of my hair." She thought for a minute, then asked, "Hey, Squall, why didn't those Heartless disappear like the other one do?"

  


"How the hell am I supposed to know? Do I look like a scientist, or something?" he retorted sarcastically, rolling his azure eyes as he did so.

  


"Sheesh, Squall. I was only asking," she said in a hurt voice as she stood up and headed back to their room. "Wake me up when you can act like a civilized human again," she yelled as slammed the door.

  


"Damn it," the Gunblade wielder muttered under his breath. He put the Gummi ship on autopilot and followed her, opening the door slowly in case she decided to throw something at his head as she had been known to do. Peeking around the door, he saw her curled up on the bed, quiet sobs racking her body. "Hey, I'm sorry, Yuf," he whispered as he approached her, reaching out his hand to lay on her shoulder.

  


She rolled over to look at him, not knowing how much her tear-stained cheeks pained Squall. He raised his hand to her cheek, gently wiping away droplets rolling down her face as he sat down beside her. She sighed, "I know you are. But it's this damn curse. It's got me so worked up..." She trailed off, unable to speak as she choked back the sobs that continued to threaten her. She took a deep breath, and continued, "It's got me so worked up, that I can't even think straight half the time." 

  


Suddenly, they both heard a loud beep from the controls, indicating they were coming upon another world. Yuffie was the first to jump off the bed, running as fast as her legs would carry her to look out the window. "Oh wow!" she exclaimed. "Squall, you have got to see this! It's so beautiful!"

  


Going a lot slower than his young ninja, Squall finally made it to the pilot seat to initiate the landing sequence. Glancing out the window, he couldn't help but agree with Yuffie's assessment of the world. The planet appeared to be a very lush green, very different from the desert world they had just left. There were trees, lakes, and rivers everywhere. He slowly landed the ship in a clearing and opened to door, only to be greeted by beautiful music wafting through the land. 

  


As soon as Yuffie stepped out of the ship, she realized something was wrong. She looked back at Squall and gasped. "You–, wha–, I–, huh?" was all she managed to stammer out as she ogled Squall's lower half.

  


Squall had much the same reaction to her, his mouth dropping at the sight. "Um...Yuf, I think we have a problem here." He was pointing at the horse body that had appeared where her legs once were.

  


"Yeah, I should think so." She began pawing the ground. "I can't believe this. We are now officially in Weirdsville," she muttered as she looked over her shoulder at her lower half, which was now the body of a white horse. "Squall, we're centaurs."

  


"What do you mean 'we?' I feel perfectly fine." He noticed the smirk on her face and decided he might better check for himself. Half afraid of what he might see, he glanced at his feet, only to see furry chestnut colored horse legs and black hooves. "Okay, _we're_ centaurs. Now what do we do?" He couldn't help but notice how cute she looked as a centaur, her long flowing black tail swishing around flirtatiously. _What am I saying?_ he thought to himself. _Get a grip!_

  


Yuffie began laughing at the situation. Here they were, trying to break a curse, and they get turned into centaurs. She trotted up to Squall and simply stood beside him. "I think we should explore and see what we find," she declared as she grasped his hand. "Wait a minute! Do you here that music?" she asked, hearing the most beautiful symphony she had ever heard before.

  


"Yeah, it's Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony," Squall said nonchalantly. Yuffie stared at him goggle-eyed, amazed he knew the music. "What? I studied music at one point, so I'm not a completely uncultured slob."

  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  


"Kairi! I found something today," Sora yelled as he ran through the doors that connected the Third District to the First District. He was waving around a slip of paper as he tripped over his own two feet. "Owww!" he screeched as he slid head first into the red-head.

  


Kairi laughed at him and helped to pull him up, saying, "Sora, you're so clumsy I don't know how you actually manage to fight without chopping your head off!" 

  


"Yeah, well, I can't help it if I have huge feet, now can I?" he whined, sounding like a wounded puppy.

  


"No, but it might help if you tied your shoes occasionally," she shot back. "Now, what were you yelling about?"

  


Sora reached down and picked up the paper he had dropped and handed it to her. "I was looking around Merlin's house again today and I found this." 

  


The sixteen year old Princess began to read it out loud:

"Sora,

Sorry we had to dash off in such a hurry, but the Heartless are coming. We don't have much time, so I'm leaving you this note. The Fairy Godmother and I have managed to round up all the people and we are taking them to a safe haven by way of Gummi ship. You and your friends shouldn't stay in Traverse Town for long because the Heartless are growing stronger. Please, you must hurry and find where they are coming from to stop their spread.

Merlin."

  


Sora listened intently to Kairi, even though he had read it when he first discovered it. "I think we should leave, Kairi."

  


"Yes, we need to leave now and help with the search," she mumbled, already walking back to their house to pack. She grabbed Sora's arm, "Come on. We need to hurry."

  


Minutes later, they were heading toward the World Exit, backpacks full of clothes and food. As they went through the doors, Sora turned around to give the lonely town a parting glance. 

  


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Galloping across the green meadows, Yuffie laughed joyously as Squall chased behind her, occasionally grabbing her long, black tail. The feeling of running through the grass as a centaur was exhilarating; she had a sense of freedom she had not felt since before the Heartless came. She stopped suddenly as she came to the top of a hill and looked down. However, Squall wasn't paying attention and crashed into her, causing both of them to tumble down the hill, screaming as they rolled. 

  


"Thanks a lot, Squall," Yuffie said as they came to a stop. She stood up carefully, all four legs splayed out as the world seemed to spin around her. She clutched her head, trying to stop the ground from tilting. 

  


She glared at Squall who was simply laying there in the grass, a large grin across his face. "Oh, come on, Yuf, ya know ya liked it." Seeing the dizzying effect the tumble had on Yuffie, he decided to wait before he attempted to stand. "What did you stop for, anyway?" he asked.

  


The world finally stopped spinning for one ninja, allowing her to walk again. "The view was so beautiful, I wanted to be able to enjoy it." She looked around them, seeing a forest not far from them. 

  


Squall finally climbed to his feet, shaking his chestnut horse body to remove the grass that had accumulated there. Over the symphony still playing in the background, they heard the melodious notes of a shepherd's pipe. Looking around, Squall spotted something that looked to be half man and half goat. Pointing at it, he whispered, "What is that thing?"

  


"Oh my gosh! It's Phil's people! It's a satyr!" Yuffie nearly screamed from excitement. "And look up in the air! It's a pegasus and," she pointed across the meadow, "there's a unicorn!"

  


Squall looked at her confusedly. "Okay, I give up. How do you know all these names?"

  


"Easy, silly. When I was little, I was obsessed with mythological creatures. So, I spent a lot of time in the library with books about them." Yuffie seemed so happy about seeing all these creatures from her childhood dreams, that Squall didn't have the heart to chide her about being a nerd.

  


The ninja centaur settled back down in the grass, drawing her four legs underneath her body, enjoying the music the satyr made with his pipes. Squall had no choice but to follow her example, with the exception of leaning his torso against her horse body. Yuffie laughed silently as the Gunblade wielder soon fell asleep from the soothing strands of music.

  


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Sora and Kairi had the ship to themselves, trying to decide which direction to go. "Sora, I think we should head toward Wonderland. They might know something there." Kairi stomped her foot in an effort to get her way.

  


"Uh-uh. There's no way in hell I'm going back to that place. Do you have any idea how annoying that stupid doorknob is? Not to mention that the bitch they have as queen will try to behead us as soon as we land," Sora exclaimed. "I think we should go to Hollow Bastion and give the library another try."

  


He heard Kairi gasp as she pointed out the window. "I think we have a solution, Sora. There's a new warp hole."

  


Sora nodded and piloted the ship through, not knowing where they would come out at. In fact, for all he knew, they might end up at Hollow Bastion anyway. The Gummi ship came out of the warp jump and began its stable flight again. A new world appeared in front of them, this one covered in an ancient looking forest with a lone castle in a small village. "Um, Kairi, do you think this might be the world we've been looking for?" he asked tentatively.

  


The princess shook her head. "No, I would feel it if it were. Let's just land and see if they know anything, okay?"

  


Sora brought the ship in slowly to land in a clearing of the forest and they cautiously stepped out. Suddenly, they heard people crashing through the forest. No, wait, it wasn't people. It was a large bear and a lithe fox, both wearing dresses.

  


"We did it, Robin," the bear called to the fox as they continued to run.

  


"Yes, Little John, but Prince John is still after us," the red fox yelled over his shoulder.

  


At that moment, a male lion without a mane and wearing a crown came running into the clearing, followed by a bunch of spear-toting rhinos. "After them, you fools!" he cried, sucking his thumb as he did so. He tripped and fell into a mud puddle, causing his thumb to slip out of his mouth. He immediately began to tug on his ear and suck his now dirty thumb again, wailing, "Mommy! I've got a dirty thumb!"

  


Kairi and Sora stood silently at the edge of the clearing, barely breathing, until the animals in front of them continued their chase. Sora was the first to speak. "Holy shit! Those were talking animals! And two of them were cross-dressers!"

  


Kairi rolled her eyes, "Donald, Goofy, and Mickey were talking animals, too. Remember?"

  


"Oh, yeah, you're right!"

  


"Dumbass!" the princess muttered to herself.

  


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Author's Note: Thank you, VL for the great idea! Now, down to business. I need reviews before I can continue this, I think. I have some ideas for other worlds, but I would appreciate it if you would tell me what you think of these worlds before I put them in the story. Here's the list of possibilities so far: Star Wars, Johnny Bravo, Scooby-Doo, Calvin and Hobbes, and the Princess Bride. I'm also taking requests. So, if you can think of a cartoon or movie that you like, tell me and I might work it in if I have seen it before. By the way, can't you tell that I watch too many cartoons. I really need to get a life. Anyways, review!

  


Disclaimer: NO, I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Flight of Dragons, Fantasia, the Pastoral Symphony, or Robin Hood. 


	9. Chapter Nine: A Close Call of a Differen...

_Author's Note: _Thank you for the termites, VL. They have been working nicely, the block is now down to a splinter. By the way, another story idea came to me while I was driving to school, so expect it up in a few days.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story. That's right, nothing! 

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_Chapter Nine: A Close Call of A Different Kind_

"Squall, wake up." Yuffie brushed his russet hair away from his face as she urged the Gunblade wielder to wake up. "Come on, time to rise and shine!" 

Squall smiled and began speaking before he opened his eyes. "I had the strangest dream, Yuf. I dreamt we were centaurs. And there were all kinds of other mythical creatures and--" He broke off when he heard her laughing. He slowly opened his eyes to look at her, but the glare from the sun caused him to squint. "What's so funny?"

"You might want to look for yourself," she laughed, pointing to his body.

He lowered his eyes and stared at the chestnut fur covering a horse's body attached to him. "It wasn't a dream, huh?" Yuffie nodded, trying to stifle the giggles that threatened to erupt from her throat. "Okay, so now what do we do?"

"I don't know. I guess we enjoy it while we can," she stated matter-of-factly, pushing him off of her. Standing up, she stretched her limbs, rather enjoying the sensation of the four sturdy horse legs beneath her. It made her feel exhilarated somehow, like she could run just for the hell of it. She reached her hands down to Squall, pulling his with her own. "Come on, get up."

He hauled himself to his feet and looked around the meadow, trying to find something. "Um, Yuffie, do you remember where we left the Gummi ship at?" He spoke quietly, looking both worried and perplexed.

"I thought you would remember!" She slapped her forehead with her palm. "Great! We've lost the Gummi ship! Smooth move, ex-lax!" she yelled. [A/N: I know, that sounds kinda gross, but it's a saying I've grown up with]

"Calm down, we'll just ask someone, er, I mean, something as the case may be." He pointed across the field, where he spotted a few more centaurs. "See, we'll go talk to them. I'm sure they've seen it." He started towards them at a trot, Yuffie following close behind him.

The other centaurs, who happened to be in technicolor blue, red, purple, and orange, simply stared at the strangers. Yuffie decided she should be the one to ask the questions, since Squall had the tendency to scare people and/or things. "Hi, um, we're lost. We were wondering if maybe you've seen a ship around here. Can you help us?"

They stared at her stupidly, not making a sound, but pawing at the ground with their hooves. The two female centaurs moved behind the males for protection. 

"Hello?" Yuffie waved her hand in front of the orange male's face. "Can you help us?" she asked again, this time accentuating each word carefully.

Still no answer, with the exception of them pawing the ground. The blue female cocked her head to one side, much like a dog would that's trying to understand what it's master is saying.

"Um, Yuffie, I don't think they know what you're saying," Squall whispered in her ear.

The ninja looked disgusted. "But they should. They can't be that stupid!" she whined. "Wait a minute, I have an idea!" She looked back at the centaurs who were still pawing the ground. "What's two plus two?"

The purple female immediately tapped her hoof on the ground four times. Yuffie crowed with delight, turning to Squall as she said, "See, they do understand us." She spun back around to the creatures, "Can you show us where the ship is?" The same one tapped her hoof on the ground four more times. The ninja rolled her eyes, "Damn it! So close, yet so far!"

Squall pulled her arm, saying, "Let's go, Yuf. They can't help us." Yuffie agreed, glad to be leaving the simple minded centaurs. They cantered across the meadow, away from the forest where the centaurs had disappeared into. Something in the sky caught Squall's eye. "Hey, what are those?" he asked, pointing up at the strange creatures flying across the sky.

Looking up, Yuffie replied, "Pegasus." She continued to watch them. It was a whole family; the two parents were teaching the babies to fly. The ninja began to laugh as one baby in particular seemed to be having more trouble than the others. The little black winged horse's rear kept falling while the rest of him stayed aloft, causing it to reach around with its mouth and grasp its tail, pulling up on it. "Oh, they're so cute! Let's take one home with us," she pleaded with the Gunblade wielder. Squall simply looked at her, raising an eyebrow and shaking his head. 

Suddenly, the music still playing in the background became rushed, warning of impeding doom. The sky grew darker as purplish-black storm clouds crossed the heavens. Yuffie could feel the horse half of her body growing skittish as she began to recognize the signs of an upcoming Heartless storm. She clutched Squall's arm in an attempt to calm herself, whispering, "The Heartless are coming."

Squall drew his Gunblade as Heartless began to materialize in front of their very eyes. "Shit," he muttered as he recognized the shapes appearing. "Why, oh why, does it have to be Invisibles and Angel Stars?!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Should we follow them?" Sora asked the befuddled Kairi, who was still staring after the childish lion who continued to suck his thumb and cry for his mommy.

"Huh? Did you say something?" The glazed look left her face as she turned back to look as the Keyblade master.

"I said, do you think we should follow them?" He rolled his eyes, thinking how easily distracted she became since they left Traverse Town.

"No, I think we should leave. There's not much we can do here. And these people, er, animals, I mean, don't seem to know anything." Kairi began walking back to the ship, thankful to be leaving this crazy world. _A lion that sucks his thumb and cries for his mommy_, she thought, _this can't be happening._

Sora climbed in after her and began to pilot the ship away from the forest and into the heavens above. They continued to fly until they heard an ear-splitting beeping coming from the controls. "Uh-oh!" Sora muttered.

"What do you mean, 'uh-oh'?" the princess yelled.

He looked at her, eyes wide with fear. "We're going to crash into that planet." The planet in question appeared to be a swamp of some kind, and it was getting closer as their ship began to accelerated towards it. Sora grabbed Kairi and dragged her to their room, throwing both him and her on the bed, hoping the mattress would soften the crash that was soon to come.

The ship started spinning out of control as they entered the planet's atmosphere, throwing Sora and Kairi around the room. Kairi looked around wildly as the heavy box came flying out of nowhere, knocking her unconscious. She didn't feel the jolt as minutes later the ship came to a crashing halt as it hit the ground. 

Sora stood up shakily, and stumbled over to the still lump that was Kairi. He gently shook her shoulders as he called her name. "Kairi, Kairi! KAIRI!" He became more panicky each time he called her, getting no response from her. "At least she's breathing," he muttered as he saw her chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm. Picking her up gently, he carried her to the front of the ship where he could see out the window. The ship had landed in the dirty sludge of a swamp and was steadily sinking. He quickly opened the door and climbed onto the roof with his beloved before their were pulled into the ooze surrounding them. That was when he saw it. 

On the shore, staring at them with wise old eyes, sat a green something with large hair-filled ears. "Come, help you I will, yes," it called to them. Sora had no choice but to make his way across the roof of the ship and to the land where the creature sat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cloud and Aerith were outside talking to the dragon Smrgol when Carolinus returned on Gorbash from his meeting with his brothers. The blonde looked at the wizard expectantly. "Well, when can you help us?" he demanded.

"You must go on a quest, but it is not as I thought it would be," the green wizard began. He sighed. "My brother Ommadon is using creatures he calls Heartless to destroy man before man can destroy him."

Aerith's hand flew to her mouth, "Heartless," she murmured.

The wizard looked at her carefully, "Yes, Heartless. You know of these things?"

Cloud nodded. "We have fought them before. That is one of the reasons we must find the world where our friends were cursed. The witch has begun using Heartless to take over the worlds, as a man named Ansem tried to before her," he explained.

"What must we do?" Aerith asked, determined to do anything to save this world from its possible fate of destruction.

"You must defeat Ommadon. Once his evil has been destroyed, my two brothers and I, along with the Princess Millicent, will be able to find a way for the curse to be broken." Carolinus started for the cottage. "Come. We must prepare you for your quest."

The dragon Smrgol stopped the wizard with a question. "Carolinus, who will be accompanying Sir Cloud and Lady Aerith on their quest?"

The elderly man stopped just before entering the house to answer Smrgol. "Sir Peter as well as Gorbash." Seeing the disappointed look in the old dragon's eyes, he continued, "I'm sorry, Smrgol, but this quest may prove to be too much for you at your age. Of course, I will need you here."

Gorbash became excited, flapping his large green wings and slowly beginning to rise from the ground. "A quest! My first quest!"

"Gorbash, please calm down," Carolinus commanded gently. "Go find Sir Peter and tell him that the quest will begin soon." As Gorbash flew off into the sky, Aerith and Cloud followed the Green Wizard into the cottage to find out what the quest would entail.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The large white wings of the Angel Star began to beat slowly, leaving the glass body defenseless as Squall relentlessly beat at it with his Gunblade. Just as the creature was near death, it covered itself with the fragile looking wings, becoming invincible. Swinging his weapon around in rage, Squall managed to destroy the Invisible that was creeping up behind him. 

Behind Squall, Yuffie was having a hard time managing to keep the horse half of her body calm enough for her to fight; it kept trying to run, leaving the battle and the Gunblade wielder behind. As she fought for control of her body, she also threw shurikens at the assaulting creatures, killing a few of the Angel Stars with well-aimed hits. Suddenly, she saw the Invisible toss its sword into the ground; she knew what was coming next. The purple balls encircled her before she had a chance to run. "Squall!" she cried out as she felt the electric shock shoot through her small body as the circles closed in on her.

He turned around just in time to see her body convulse, then fall to the ground. Enraged, Squall fought with renewed vigor, vanquishing all the surrounding foes quickly. As the last one disappeared in a black cloud, he ran to his beloved. "Yuffie! Yuffie, please be okay," he begged as he gently lifted her head, supporting her neck. She was so pale and so still, he feared the worst. Salty tears welled up in his eyes before spilling over their dams and streaming down his cheeks. Shaking her lightly, he began calling her name in desperation, praying she would answer him. "Yuffie! Please, don't die! Yuffie!" His voice gave out on him as the tears choked him. He lowered her head back to the ground and fell to the ground, weeping. 

Her eyelids slowly fluttered open, revealing to her Squall kneeling beside her on the ground, sobbing loudly. She reached out a shaky hand and lightly touched his shoulder, whispering, "Sq-, Squall?"

He jerked his head up to look, making sure he wasn't hearing things. "You're alive!" he let out as he tackled her, holding her like he was never going to let go again, kissing her ebony locks like he would never see her again. 

"What happened?" Yuffie asked, her voice muffled by Squall's strong body. She remembered landing on this world and she remembered that they had become centaurs, but beyond that, she had no idea.

Letting out a shaky breath, he eased his grip on her ever so slightly. "We were attacked. By Angel Stars and Invisibles." He stopped, fear of what might have been causing tears to return to his azure eyes. "An Invisible attacked you, and before I could help, it had knocked you out." He looked deep into her dark eyes before continuing. "I thought you were dead." He kissed her forehead gently, trying to erase the recent memory of her near death from his mind.

They sat there for awhile, holding each other tightly, before Yuffie suggested they should try to find their Gummi ship and leave this world. Squall agreed with her, rising from the ground and pulling her up as well. Walking on shaky legs, they retraced their steps from earlier in the day, finally finding the much looked for vehicle. 

Squall opened the door, allowing Yuffie to enter before him. Once they stepped into the ship, their lower halves returned to normal, causing a weird sensation in their legs. As soon as Squall set the ship on autopilot, he pulled his ninja silently to the bedroom. Without a word, they both lay down upon the bed and simply held each other.

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Author's Note: There you have it. Review, please. I would like to take this time to give a big thanks to all my faithful readers/reviewers. You know, I've discovered something. I've become addicted to reviews. I wonder if they have a "Reviews Anonymous?" Anyways, I foresee 2 to 3 more chapters in this story if I can keep the writer's blocks away.


	10. Chapter Ten: Pieces of the Puzzle

_Author's Note: _Okay, people. I am determined to finish this story in the next two days. Right now, I am sick, so I don't have to go to school which means I can spend most of my time sitting in front of the computer and typing. Also, this is the second to last chapter. So, read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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_Chapter Ten: Pieces of the Puzzle_

Kairi awoke to find herself lying in on a hard bed in what appeared to be a burrow in the ground. In the small chair beside her, sat Sora, head resting on his chest as he dozed. Across the room, a small green man with large ears stirred something in a pot over a fire. He looked up at her and smiled in a weird way. "Awake you are, yes," he muttered as he began shuffling towards her carrying a bowl of something.

Confused, Kairi asked, "Where are we? What happened?" She stared at him pointedly, "And what the hell are you?" She was starting to get really creeped out by this creature.

"Yoda I am, and in the swamp you are, yes." He forced the bowl of foul-smelling liquid into her hands, saying, "Eat you must." Hobbling back across the small room, he mumbled to himself as though he were completely alone in the room.

Looking back down at the disgusting bowl of sludge in her hand, Kairi decided she would not try to eat it. She grabbed Sora's shoulder and began to shake him gently, whispering, "Sora, wake up!" She hoped this Yoda thing didn't hear her.

"Huh? What..." Sora trailed off a loud yawn escaped his throat. "Kairi! You're awake!" he shouted excitedly, hugging her.

"Yeah, now, tell me where we are?" she demanded, wanting some real answers instead of the crap Yoda told her.

The Keyblade master furrowed his brows in deep thought, "I'm not sure where exactly we are, but Yoda, here, knows where we need to go to find the witch." He looked at the princess happily, "We'll be able to stop the Heartless before she can destroy any worlds. That is if..."

"If what?" Sora refused to meet her gaze. "If what?" she persisted, demanding an answer from him.

Sora sighed loudly, "If we can get the Gummi ship out of the swamp." He bit his lip before continuing. "After I managed to get us both out of there, it sank."

"It sank? Great! Now what are we supposed to do?" All hope was leaving Kairi as she feared that they may have to stay on this swampy world for the rest of their lives, having to associate with the creature that called himself Yoda everyday, listening to him butcher sentence structure everyday. The grammarian inside her shuddered.

"But I have good news, I think," the spikey-haired brunette told her. She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue. "Yoda," he jerked his head toward the green man, "says he can get it out of there using something he calls 'the force,' or something like that."

From across the room, Yoda stated calmly, "Yes, use the force I will." He shuffled over to the two of them. "Come, use the force I will," he said as he walked through the tiny door to the swamp outside. 

Kairi pulled herself out of the bed where she was still lying and crawled through the opening to see how Yoda planned to raise their ship from the muddy sludge where it had sunk. Sora followed her, placing a hand on the small of her back as if guiding her. They both stopped behind Yoda who was at the shore of the swamp. "I don't see how a little guy like him is going to raise our ship," she muttered under her breath to Sora.

"You'd be amazed at what little guys like him can do," he whispered back, watching intently the green creature who had become silent as he concentrated. Yoda slowly raised his short arms, and, as he did so, the water began to ripple. 

Kairi's eyes widened in surprise and a small "Oh" escaped her lips as the top of the Gummi ship broke the surface. As they watched, the vehicle was lifted completely out of the water and hovered over the surface for a moment before it floated to the land. Once it was above the ground, it slowly lowered itself.

By now, Yoda looked completely exhausted, tired from the great feat of using the force to raise the ship. "Powerful the force is, yes," he managed to gasp out. Both Sora and Kairi looked at him in amazement, neither being able to speak. 

Finally breaking the silence, Sora spoke up. "Um, now that our ship is out, maybe we should get going so we can stop the Heartless, don't ya think, Kairi?" She didn't answer, still just staring at Yoda as if in a daze. "Kairi? Hello, earth to Kairi?" He waved a hand in front of her face, finally bringing her back to reality.

"What?" she asked, shaking her head. He repeated his question, to which she answered, "Yeah, we should leave." She headed for the ship's entrance, ready to leave this swampy place. "Uh, Sora, where are we going? You said Yoda knew where we needed to go."

"Yes, another world you must go to. The next world you come to it will be, yes," the creature said. He turned to leave the two teenagers, calling back to them, "May the force be with you."

Sora and Kairi got into the Gummi ship, straightening some of the mess from the crash as they walked to the cockpit. Preparing for take off, Sora sat in the pilot's seat and prayed they could leave this place without crashing again. The ship slowly rose from the ground, heading up towards the sky. Thankfully, the ship broke through the atmosphere without incident and they set off for the next world.

After flying for a few hours, the planet finally came into view. As they approached it, they could begin to make out details. It appeared there was an old dark castle, crumbling after years of abuse. Surrounding the castle was a small village full of dilapidated cottages. Towering over the tiny town was a dark, evil-looking forest full of ancient trees. Kairi shuddered as she felt the evil emanating from this world. "This is it," she whispered quietly.

Sora nodded and used the small interplanetary radio in the cockpit, trying to call the other two ships. Receiving no reply, he left a message, giving them the coordinates and the details they needed to know to find them. 

After this, he slowly landed the ship in a small clearing in the woods. Opening the door, they both walked out and were immediately surrounded by Heartless of the Darkball variety. Brandishing the Keyblade, he pushed Kairi back into the ship and prepared for the battle.

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Just as Cloud and Aerith were preparing to join Sir Peter and Gorbash on the quest they had become in involved with, Smrgol came flying down, shouting, "Carolinus, we've been attacked."

The Green Wizard ran out of his cottage, looking to the sky, seeing a flight of dragons being chased by what appeared to be smaller dragons. Cloud looked up as well, immediately recognizing the creatures attacking the dragons. "Heartless," he muttered. 

Aerith glanced quickly at him, "What kind?"

"From what I can tell, they appear to be Wyverns." As they were watching the sky battle, they noticed a figure riding on a red and black dragon. Cloud pointed, "Who's that?"

"Ommadon, the Red Wizard, lord of the devil's domain, seducer--" The Green Wizard was interrupted by the impatient Cloud.

"We get it, you don't have go into the whole spiel again." Thinking for a moment, Cloud tapped his chin with his finger, "Isn't he the one we have to defeat?"

Carolinus nodded. "This is wholly unexpected. I did not believe he would be foolish enough to bring his minions here, where he knows I've been preparing for a quest to destroy him." As they were speaking, the dragon the Red Wizard was riding lowered to the ground, allowing Ommadon to climb down.

"My foolish brother," he began sneeringly, "I see you believe these mortals can defeat me, the Red Wizard, lord of the devil's domain, seducer of--" He was cut off by the sight of Cloud pulling out his Buster sword.

"I'm so tired of hearing that. Ooh, lord of the devil's domain, seducer of darkness, and blah blah blah." The blonde was losing what little bit of patience he had with these people who felt they had to name _all _of a person's titles before they could do anything else. "Well, I have a new name for you: wizard who fell to my sword." With that, he swung his large sword around, intending on beheading the evil wizard.

"Foolish mortal, you cannot kill me. Don't you know weapons cannot harm me," Ommadon declared ominously as he paralyzed Cloud. The blonde stood stone still, sword stopping in mid-arc. Aerith gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.

That was when the battle in the sky changed; the dragons were no longer flying away from the Wyverns, but were now fighting for all their worth. And they were winning, the Heartless beginning to disappear in black smoke-filled clouds. Ommadon raised his eyes to view the scene, realizing his plan had backfired somehow. 

A black portal appeared behind the wizard and a haggard looking woman stepped through. "You fool! You have allowed my pets to be defeated!" She began to shriek in rage, seeing her plans for the domination for this world going down the drain. "For this, I cannot allow you to live!" As she said this, she waved her arms in the air as if casting a spell. 

Ommadon fell to his knees, clutching his heart and gasping for breath. The witch continued her chant, eyeing the Red Wizard with malice. Finally, he collapsed into an unmoving heap. As everyone watched, his body turned to dust and blew away with the breeze.

The witch looked to people around her, screeching, "You cannot stop me! I am the Ageless One! I will soon have all these worlds under my control!" As soon as these words left her lips, she stepped back into the portal and disappeared.

Aerith stood in shock for a moment, blinking her eyes in disbelief. "Um, Cloud, I think she's the one who put the curse on Yuffie and Leon."

The blonde turned to look at the Green Wizard. "So, does this mean we don't have to go on the quest after all?" He hoped they could find the answers they needed so they could end the Heartless threat quickly.

Carolinus continued to stand there, almost as if in a trance, before he was able to speak. "No, there is no need for the quest now. She's the one who placed the curse upon your friends?" They both nodded, wondering where he was going with this. "I know how you can destroy her."

They both waited for him to continue, but he didn't say anything. "Well, are you going to tell us?" Cloud prodded.

"The only way to defeat a witch of her power is to have a pure heart. Only one with the purest heart can obliterate her evil," he explained.

Aerith thought about this for a moment, suddenly remembering the Princesses of Heart. "Are you saying a Princess of Heart can kill her?" she asked impatiently.

"Yes, one of the Princesses of Heart." Carolinus looked back to where the black portal had appeared, "But you must hurry, her power is growing."

Without another word, Cloud and Aerith began to run to where they had left the Gummi ship. Unexpectedly, a large form landed in front of them. "Are you crazy? It's too far for you to go by foot," the dragon Gorbash stated. "Come on, I will fly you there." Wordlessly, the two climbed onto the dragon and flew to their ship.

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Squall awoke to the feel of Yuffie curled against him and the annoyingly loud beeping coming from the cockpit, signaling that they had a message. Reluctantly, he left the warm bed and his beloved to listen to the voice mail. Pushing a button, he heard Sora's voice:

"Hey guys, we found the world where the Heartless are coming from. I'm sending the coordinates so you can find it. You might want to hurry though, I don't know how much time we have until she grows powerful enough to take over worlds."

"They found the world?" the ninja asked as she leaned against the wall, running a hand through her hair and yawning. She had awoken as soon as she had felt his warmth leave her.

Squall looked at her, thinking, _she's so beautiful and she doesn't even know it_. "Yeah, that's what he said," finally answering her question. He walked over to her, kissing her on the cheek as soon as he reached her.

Seeing a flashing red light, Yuffie pointed and said, "Aren't you going to listen to the other message?"

Confused, Squall went back over to the small radio. "Well, I'll be damned, there is another message." He pushed the playback button, recognizing Aerith's dulcet voice immediately:

"We know how to break the curse," she said excitedly. "A wizard here told us that only one with the purest of heart can defeat her, and you know what that means. Kairi's a Princess of Heart, so she will be able to kill her." There was a pause in the message before the flower girl continued. "We just received a message from Sora giving us the coordinates to the world, so I suggest that you guys hurry up and get there. We'll be there as soon as we're able."

Yuffie stared at Squall in shock, before a small smile crept across her face. "They know how to break the curse," she screamed in delight, clapping her hands. "Come on, Squall, let's hurry up and get there." 

"What's the rush?" the Gunblade wielder asked stupidly.

The ninja smiled slyly at him, "The sooner we get there, the sooner we break the curse." Finally getting the point, Squall grinned and set the coordinates and put the ship into warp drive toward the planet.

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Author's Note: Okay, I know there wasn't a lot of Squall and Yuffie in this chapter, but I had to have Sora, Kairi, Aerith, and Cloud solve the puzzle of the curse. So, there will be one more chapter and I should have it up tonight or tomorrow since I will be starting it as soon as I get this one posted.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Resolution

_Author's Note: _Here's the last chapter. I hate being sick. Right now, it feels as though someone took a knife and scraped down my throat, not to mention the stuffy nose. I have already gone through one box of Kleenex and I'm starting on the second. And, to top matters off, the stupid Tylenol Cold ISN'T HELPING!!!! Okay, enough of my ranting and own with the story.

Disclaimer: If you have gotten this far and still think that I may own the characters, then you really need help. More help than I can give you.

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_Chapter Eleven: Resolution_

Squall and Yuffie arrived at the world to find it in the same condition as Sora and Kairi, the castle crumbling into dust, the village deserted, and the forest dark and dreary. Seeing the castle brought back the recent memory of Yuffie's dream, the dream of the beginning of their curse. They found Sora and Kairi's Gummi ship the small clearing, but from what they could tell, there was no one there. Landing their ship, they jumped out and walked over to the deserted-looking one, hoping to find someone there.

"I don't think they're here, Squall," Yuffie declared as they walked up the ramp to the door. She lifted her hand to press the button that would open it when there was a loud banging coming from the other side.

"Yuffie, Leon, is that you?" came a muffled voice over the beating on the door.

Squall and Yuffie looked at each, confusion coming over their faces. The ninja pushed the button, the door opening with a loud swoosh. There sat Kairi, tears streaming down her face. Kneeling, Yuffie asked softly, "Kairi, where's Sora?"

Composing herself, the red-head started to explain. "I don't know. When we landed here, Heartless appeared and before I could do anything, he pushed me in here and locked the door." She began crying again at the thought of the Keyblade master missing, maybe even dead.

The ebony-haired ninja looked to Squall with worry in her eyes. "If the Heartless were strong enough to capture Sora, we might be too late," she whispered. 

"No, we'll find him. And, we'll stop their spread." Squall fell into leader mode so naturally, it was almost scary. "We need to wait for Cloud and Aerith first." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than said couple landing their ship near the others. 

"Well speak of the devil and up he pops," Yuffie murmured as the blonde and the flower girl walked down the ramp to the forest floor. "So, are we ready to do this?" she asked the group. Everyone nodded solemnly.

Not seeing Sora, Aerith inquired, "Where's Sora?"

"That seems to be the question of the day," Squall muttered under his breath. Speaking loud enough for everyone to hear, he stated calmly, "He's been captured by the Heartless."

Cloud took this in stride, declaring, "Well, let's go get this bitch, er, I mean, this witch and end this once and for all." Suddenly remembering the part Kairi had to play in the plan, he asked, "Has anyone told Kairi what she has to do?"

The princess looked up at him quickly, fear showing in her face. "What do you mean? What do I have to do? Haven't I done enough?" she demanded.

Aerith took a deep breath before telling the teenager. "The only way to destroy the witch is for one with a pure heart kill her." The flower girl paused dramatically, "A Princess of Heart, to be exact."

Kairi began shaking her head, "No, I can't do it. I'm not strong enough." Fear started to eat away at her, making her frantic. "I can't even save myself, how am I supposed to kill her? I don't know the first thing about fight--"

Yuffie slapped her, "Calm down, girl!" The rest of the group looked at the ninja in shock. "I had to do it, she was getting hysterical," she explained defensively. Taking Kairi's face in her hands she began to speak calmly, "Kairi, you have to do it. To stop the curse. To save the worlds." None of this was sinking in, so Yuffie tried another route. "You have to do this for Sora. Once the Heartless are stopped, he can go back to being a normal teenager." Kairi nodded gently, accepting what the ninja told her. 

"Okay then, let's get this show on the road," Squall said as he started for a path that looked as though it headed toward the castle. Running to catch up to him, Yuffie grabbed his hand, rubbing her thumb over the rough knuckles. The Gunblade wielder squeezed her hand back in reassurance.

Unbeknownst to the ninja and the lion, Aerith and Cloud watched them; the pink-clad lady smiling softly at them, while the blonde wore a smirk upon his face. "They're so in love," Aerith whispered quietly to Cloud, causing his smirk to grow. He wrapped his arm around his beloved's waist as they walked into the dark forest, Kairi following reluctantly behind them.

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Down in the deepest dungeon of the crumbling castle lay a sixteen year old boy, a bruise forming on his brow where he took the hit that knocked him out. A haggard looking woman watched him as he slowly came to, moans escaping his throat as he felt the headache. Putting a hand on his head, he sat up slowly, trying to make the room stop spinning. The woman decided it was time to let her presence be known.

"So, you are the one they call the Keyblade master, correct?" she asked, sounding almost polite if you could ignore the evil vibes emanating from her. She didn't wait for his answer, his angry glare being enough of one. "Do you really think you and your friends can stop me?" she cackled. 

Sora glowered at her, choosing to ignore her complete and utter confidence with herself. "Yes, we will defeat you. And break the curse as well," he finally declared, feeling self-assuredness flowing through his veins. 

The hag looked at him in confusion for a moment. "Curse?" she wondered aloud. "There is no curse upon you, what are you talking about?" She tapped her chin with her long black fingernail in thought for a moment. "Ah, I know now. I can sense their presence." Throwing her head back, she laughed maniacally. "That foolish Sir Richard and that _servant_ are here." She curled her lip in disgust with the word 'servant.' 

"Yes, they are here. And they will kill you," the Keyblade master stated calmly, never taking his eyes off the witch.

"They cannot kill me. I am the Ageless One. I am immortal," she hissed at him. She left the room, her long black dress swishing with each step she took. Slamming the dungeon door, she began to laugh again. "Those fools, they have returned only to have their precious love destroyed again."

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"Okay, there's the castle, what now?" Yuffie asked, running a hand nervously through her short hair as the fear of the Lady Elaine's wrath chilled her blood. Even after two hundred years, and countless other lives, her soul still dreaded the witch that had cursed them.

Squall squinted at the crumbling towers. "You know, it seems as though I've been here before," he whispered to his ninja, who simply rolled her eyes at him.

"Of course, it does, stupid! This is where we were cursed." She sighed loudly, thinking, _he can be so dense sometimes._

Kairi glanced at the once beautiful palace, remembering the nightmares she had that had warned them of this danger. "This is it, alright. Although, in my dreams, it looks a whole lot nicer," she told the group quietly.

Worry began to take over Aerith. "Um...if Kairi's supposed to kill the witch, doesn't she need a weapon of some kind?" she asked nervously, looking around at everyone who all shrugged their shoulders. "Come on, people! What do you expect her to do, walk up to her and strangle her?"

"We don't have anything to give her, Aerith," Cloud calmly stated. "My and Leon's swords are too heavy for her. And, she doesn't know the first thing about throwing shurikens, so we don't have much choice." He started for the castle, thinking deeply. "Maybe there will be something inside she could use," he pondered.

Silently agreeing, they all followed the blonde across the drawbridge, glancing down at what was once a water filled moat. Now, it was dry stone, skeletons scattered here and there. Aerith grimaced at the macabre sight, pitying the poor souls who had met their deaths at the hands of the witch.

_Something's wrong, _Squall thought to himself, _it's too quiet. We should have seen some Heartless by now._ Aloud, he said, "Okay guys, be on your guard. There's probably going to be a lot of Heartless as soon as we walk in." While he was still speaking, he brandished his Gunblade. Cloud nodded, pulling out his Buster sword as Yuffie prepared her shuriken. 

They quietly crept into the entrance hall of the castle. At first glance, it appeared to be modeled after Hollow Bastion, twin stairs around a fountain. However, unlike Hollow Bastion, this place was a disaster area; the intricate rug on the floor had been ripped to shreds, the paintings on the wall were faded and torn, the stone walls of the room had smoke stains upon them, and the fountain was in crumbles.

Walking around the room slowly, they began to search for a weapon of some kind for Kairi. It was Aerith who eventually found it. "Hey, how about this?" the flower girl asked, holding up a small dagger she had found on a table. Upon closer examination, the handle was shown to be in the shape of a dragon's head and the blade was surprisingly sharp, slicing Cloud as he ran his thumb down it.

"I think that will do it," the blonde said, sucking the blood off his damaged digit. "That is, if she can get close enough to her." 

"Well, maybe if you guys keep her engaged in battle, I can creep up behind her," Kairi finally declared, tired of feeling so helpless among this group of heroes. 

Yuffie bit her lip, nervous at the idea of the fragile princess having to do most of the dirty work. "I guess that's the only choice, really, isn't it?" No one answered. "Well, maybe we better find Sora." She took off down a hallway to the right.

"Yuffie, wait a minute. How do you know you're going in the right direction?" Squall called after her.

"Because, I remember that the dungeon is this way. Lady Elaine threatened to throw me in there enough. I'm pretty sure that is where she would have put Sora, don't ya think?" Having stopped to say all this, she began to walk stealthily down the corridor, this time the rest of the group following her.

They finally came to an opening, revealing a dark, dank, and dreary dungeon, the smell of mildew nearly overwhelming. Looking around, they saw the small cells, skeletons still chained to the wall in many. While they were busy taking in all this, they failed to notice the change in the atmosphere as all hell broke loose.

Heartless of every shape and size surrounded them, cutting off the exit. Defenders stayed near the door, preparing to shoot a barrage of flames and ice at anyone stupid enough to get within range. Flying above the group were Wyverns, ready to dive down at the first person who moved. Wizards menacingly waved their staffs, threatening lightning. Darkballs materialized around them. And to top it off, at the ground level, were the small shadow Heartless. Of course, each of these creatures by themselves wouldn't be too hard to destroy, but in a smorgasbord like this, it was nearly impossible.

Squall began barking out orders. "Yuffie, you handle the Shadows and Darkballs! Cloud, take out the Wyvern! Aerith, you and Kairi stay out of the way! I'll take care of the Wizards and Defenders!" 

The flower girl had to forcibly drag the princess away from the battle as she was brandishing her dagger, screaming, "Come on, I'll take you all on!" The girl didn't realize that her small weapon would have little to no effect on the monsters.

Whipping out her shurikens, the ninja soon had all the harmless Shadows out of the way, leaving the Darkballs for last. "Take that! And that! Bring it on!" she shouted at the large black masses floating around her, watching them burst into black clouds as obliterated them.

The Gunblade was slicing through the air, taking Wizards out in single strikes before they had the chance to summon the lightning storms. Squall grunted as each swing of his weapon struck a monster, leaving one less creature for him to deal with. After finishing the Wizards, he started for the Defenders still standing stupidly near the entrance to the dungeon.

In all actuality, Cloud had the hardest job of all. The only times he could actually reach the Wyvern was when they dove down toward him in one of their spinning attacks. However, when they did do this, he was able to kill them with two or three well-timed strikes.

The battle, which seemed to last for hours to Aerith and Kairi, only took a few minutes. The two girls crept out of their hiding place in the corner when they saw Squall take down the last Defender. Yuffie stood with her hands on her thighs, panting from the exertion. Both swordsman calmly took out a cloth and wiped the black ooze from their blades.

"Everyone okay?" the lithe ninja asked between breaths as she was still panting. Hearing a chorus of 'yeah's,' she walked over to Squall, making sure he was really okay and not just lying about it, as he was prone to do. Sure enough, his shoulder was seared where a fireball had hit him. "I thought you said you were okay?" Yuffie said, the question coming out more like a statement.

He winced in pain as she touched it gingerly with her delicate hand. "It's not that bad. I'll be okay." He looked down at her, noticing the scratches on her arms and legs. "What about you?" he demanded gently. "You look like you took some pretty good hits yourself."

She glanced down, noticing them for the first time. "Yeah, well, they didn't hurt til you told me about them," she muttered, grimacing as the cuts started to burn. "But, I'll live." Standing up on tip-toe, she intended to give Squall a quick peck on the cheek; however, he had other plans. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her, resting his chin on her head and closing his eyes as he rocked her gently in his arms, oblivious to the people around them.

"Hey, lovebirds! Do you think you two can disengage yourselves from each other long enough to finish our job here?" Cloud called across the room to them. 

Squall shot the blonde the death glare before releasing Yuffie from his grasp, yet still keeping her hand within his as they continued through the dungeon looking for Sora.

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Sora leaned against the cold, stone wall of his cell, patiently waiting for his friends to save him. He fingered the crown necklace around his neck, wondering how they were doing. He had heard what sounded like a battle moments before, but the noise was gone now. 

"So, you're just going to sit there, boy?" the witch hissed, sneering at him. 

The Keyblade master nodded. "Yep. My friends will be here soon." His trademark smile crept across his face. 

"Insolent child! They have no hope of defeating me!" she shrieked. 

Sora just looked at her for moment, taking in her haggard appearance. He could tell that at one time, she may have been quite beautiful. But, time and an evil life had taken its toll on her. Her long, dry, white hair cascaded down her back, ending at her waist. The nearly translucent skin of her face looked as though it had been pulled too tightly, leaving her cheek bones jutting out above the hollows where her cheeks should have been. Overall, she appeared to be very old, ancient in fact.

Trying to make conversation with the haggard woman, Sora asked, "So, how old are you actually?"

She turned her gaze to him, black eyes full of hatred. "I am the Ageless One."

"So, does that mean you're too embarrassed to tell me your age, then?" the teenager persisted.

"It means that an insolent brat like you has no need to know anything of the sort," she growled.

"Oh, I get it, you're, like, over the hill or something, right?" Sora had trouble holding his laughter in. This witch was so easy to anger.

Sighing in disgust, she left the room, leaving Sora alone with his thoughts of his friends once again.

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Coming across stairs leading down into darker depths of the castle, Yuffie started down, knowing at least Squall would follow her. "Ya know, Yuf, you could at least wait until we check things out before you go running off into the unknown," he had told her matter-of-factly. She only smiled at him, then continued to run down the stairs, giving him no choice but to accompany her. Everyone else gave in as well, and began the descent.

"Ah, you have returned at last, haven't you, Katherine?" a malevolent voice stated calmly. "And, look, Sir Richard has come as well. Maybe he's finally realized the mistake he made when he choice you over me."

Yuffie's eyes narrowed. She recognized the voice as the Lady Elaine's, only now it sounded colder, more sinister. "You can't win, Elaine. The Heartless will be destroyed and the curse will be broken as well. You might as well give up." The ninja hoped her false bravado would work.

A figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing the now haggard and ugly Lady Elaine. "I see that you have learned nothing in your many lives, Katherine. You have forgotten that you must bow to noble blood," the witch sneered. "You do remember that you are a mere servant, don't you?"

Squall stepped in front of Yuffie, intent on protecting her from the hag's wrath. He pulled out his Gunblade, holding it in front of him. "This ends now, witch," he growled.

"And Sir Richard, you have forgotten as well. I suppose you don't remember what happened last time you tried to kill me?" She threw her head back and began to cackle. "I am immortal, you fools. Your silly weapons cannot harm me." 

By now, Cloud and Aerith had come down the stairs, followed closely by Kairi. "Oh? More young lovers for me to curse?" the witch asked playfully. "And a Princess of Heart? I had only just begun the search for them. Really, Katherine, such gifts as these? You are too kind." She cocked her head to one side, thinking. "Now, let's see, what kind of curse can I place upon these two?"

While the Lady Elaine was pondering what type of creatures she would turn Cloud and Aerith into, Kairi began to creep around the edge of the room, hoping to get behind the witch. "Wait right there, Princess," the hag said calmly, waving her arms toward the red-head, who had now found herself paralyzed. The witch looked around at the group, "Oh, you thought that child would kill me, didn't you?"

Not being able to take the suspense any longer, Squall leapt forward with his Gunblade, tearing a hole through the crone's chest. She backed away disgust showing on her haggard face, "I hate when that happens."

"Squall, I told you that wouldn't work," Yuffie muttered. She began to think furiously of a way to get Kairi close enough to actually kill the witch. Looking over at the still frozen girl, she hatched a plan. _Maybe if we all attack her at once, she will lose her control over Kairi. _Her hand reached into her pouch and slowly drew out a shuriken. She hoped the others would get the hint. Flicking her wrist expertly, the star flew across the short distance and embedded itself into Elaine's shoulder.

"You people do not learn do you?" the witch screamed. But Yuffie wasn't paying attention to her, she was watching Kairi intently. As the wound caused by the shuriken healed, the princess was able to move an inch. 

That was enough for Yuffie. She began throwing her ninja stars furiously. With each hit, Kairi was able to move another inch. Cloud and Squall finally got the idea and brought their swords around in wide arcs.

Elaine screamed in rage as she realized she was losing control of the girl while her wounds healed. She began chanting in a strange tongue, desperately trying to summon even darker powers to protect her. But just as the dark glow surrounded her body, she felt the thin blade of the dagger slip into her back, piercing her black heart.

"Noooooo!" she screeched as she fell to the ground. She writhed around in agony for a few seconds longer before finally turning to dust.

"Wow! I didn't know if I could really do that or not!" Kairi cried joyously. Everyone else stood in shock. The Heartless threat was finally over. The curse had been lifted. "Now, we just need to find Sora," the princess told everyone.

Squall and Yuffie still didn't realize the implications of the curse being broken. They just hadn't thought about it yet, so they mindlessly followed the others as the began the search for Sora.

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"Sixty-eight bottles of beer on the wall, sixty-eight bottles of beer. Take one down pass it around, sixty-seven bottles of beer on the wall." Sora paced in his cell, singing the next verse of the song in his obviously tone-deaf voice. 

"Will you please cut that out?" a voice rang out. "You're giving me a headache."

"Squall?" the Keyblade master yelled, running to the bars on the cell door. 

"Damn it, it's Leon!" the voice answered as everyone came into Sora's view.

The spikey-haired teenager's face lit up when he saw Kairi. "Kairi! You're okay!" he exclaimed, racing out of his prison as soon as Squall had opened the gate. He hugged the princess tightly. Looking around at everyone, he asked, "So, did ya destroy the witch?"

"Well, actually we didn't," Yuffie said, "but Kairi did."

"And the curse has been lifted?" he persisted.

The ninja's eyes went wide for a moment, "The curse! I forgot all about the cu--" She was broken off when Squall pushed her against the wall and captured her lips with his own. Pulling his head closer, she ran her fingers through his tangled hair as he ran his hands up her sides, causing her to twist with pleasure.

They continued like this for a few minutes, only stopping for a breath occasionally, when Cloud couldn't stand it any longer. "Okay, enough is enough, guys!" They ignored him completely. "Guys?" Still they didn't stop. By now, Sora and Kairi were staring, mouths gaping in shock at how affectionate Squall was being, in public no less. Aerith leaned against Cloud, smiling happily. The blonde tried once again, "Could you at least wait until we get back to the Gummi ships?" he begged.

They both stopped, silly grins plastered on their faces. "There is a bed in the ship, Squall," Yuffie whispered in his ear. 

"What are we waiting for then?" He grabbed her arm, pulling her behind him as he raced up the stairs, out of the castle, and through the woods to their waiting ship.

Not hearing what they had just said, Aerith stated, "I wonder where they're going off to so fast?" to which everyone else laughed.

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Author's Note: It's finished! Now, as always, I will take this time to thank all the reviewers:

Annjirika

BlueEyedDemon10

Cat of Darkness

Rockman SP

Vulpes Lapis: the termites work wonders, don't they?

someone

fanficlvr

RCRhyo15

ObsidianSorrows

Lina

DBH

Yuffie-Penn

Sam

pingpong867

SniperYingFa

Sora4-eva

Okay, I think that's everyone. Now, I have a little preview of my upcoming work. 

"These Are the Days" will be AU and take place in a college town with Yuffie, Kairi, Sora, Cloud, Aerith, and Squall going to the college together. The ages will be tweaked slightly, so:

Yuffie - 18

Kairi - 17

Sora - 18

Cloud - 23

Aerith - 21

Squall - 27

Despite their differences in ages, they will all have a few classes together. Oh, and I have to apologize to Riku fans: I'm sorry, but I can't put him in any stories because I cannot seem to write his character at all.

But anyways, the first installment of this story should be up by Sunday at the very latest. Knowing me, I'll probably work on it all day tomorrow and post it.


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